In The Still Of The Night
by Spindiver
Summary: This is a futurefic taking place 10 years after the events in series 1. Stiles has all but forgotten what happened in Beacon Hills. In a different place and time an unexpected meeting reopens old memories and leads to a dangerous hidden world. Now M rated
1. Chapter 1

Stiles stumbled out of the bar into the still chill of the night. Taking a few unsteady steps, he thrust his hand out towards the wall to counter the disorientation he felt. He let the wall guide him along and round the corner into the service alley next to the bar.

'Should have known', he thought to himself, 'should have known it would be exactly the same'.

What had been a light gurgling in his stomach began to turn into something far more insistent and he turned to face the wall, falling into it but catching both hands against it at the last minute. Stiles let the nausea take control and he emptied his stomach onto the pavement below.

Five minutes later he felt that he could probably stand unaided again so he carefully lifted his head up, took a couple of deep breaths and with the mist from his breathing disappearing into the cold night air slowly pulled himself up to standing.

Upright was one thing, moving was a completely different matter so Stiles swayed ever so imperceptibly as he ruminated that bourbon was never a good thing for him to take in quantity, particularly after some bad news. However this probably wouldn't be the last time he'd be in this predicament as it equally wasn't the first.

As he considered trying to make his way home, he took a few tentative steps out into the middle of the alley and immediately felt a change in atmosphere. He realised that where before the air had been still, now a breeze came from the dark recesses of the alley and no sooner had that realisation struck him than the breeze intensified and something came whooshing at him out of the dark. Whatever it was caught his side and sent him spinning back towards the wall, arms flailing for balance. Bringing the resurgent nausea back under control again, he looked out in the direction of the street but whatever it was had gone and didn't seem to have made an impression on anyone else out in the night judging from the lack of screaming and all-round commotion. It could almost not have happened, except that dirt and small pieces of trash blew gently around, slowly settling back to the ground again as the air stilled.

Luckily for Stiles, he only lived a couple of blocks away from the bar or perhaps that had been unconscious planning on his part when he'd made the arrangement earlier. Either way, the distance was short enough that by careful concentration he made his way back to his apartment with no further mishaps. The concentration was almost enough to push the memory of the strange incident out of his mind.

The three tries it took him to get his key in the lock were about average for a night of this calibre and he gratefully let his weight push the door open as he spun round with it falling into the hallway. He didn't bother putting any lights on, he just aimed himself at his bedroom door and ricocheted off the walls and the furniture until he landed on his bed. He had enough presence of mind to toe his shoes off but not do any more than struggle out of his jacket and crawl more centrally on to the bed.

Lying there, still now, he waited for the room to stop spinning round him and hoped that sleep would be quick. He didn't want to think, he didn't want to think about anything. His subconscious was not going to be his friend though and thoughts of the evening began to trickle round the edges of his mind; images of Lyla, the girl he'd gone to meet and memories of the things she'd said. He groaned and rolled into the pillow.

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Stiles had been pretty happy earlier at work. His project was near completion, there was just some beta-testing still to work on. After college, he'd stayed in the city to work for the software house which had scouted him during his academic years. Five years later, he was still there. It was coasting, to some degree. He had a particular knack for finding flaws in programming so the work wasn't so much in the trouble shooting, it was more in the error correcting for him. He knew he could work a bit harder, improve his skills in programming and he could move to a bigger company but the people here were nice, the place was chilled, mostly and the benefits were reasonable. Why invite trouble? He'd had more than his share of it back in his teens. It was good now to just stay under the radar, bother no-one, let no-one bother him and keep a nice easy routine.

He kicked his feet up onto his desk and sat back clasping his hands behind his neck. He thought about the evening ahead and his date with Lyla, the cute blonde account executive. They were just going to have a drink at a local bar but Stiles was feeling good about it, this was their third date so perhaps something would come of this. So often it didn't. He'd had no real serious girlfriends in all this time and the only two relationships which had seemed like they might get serious fizzled out after a couple of months. Apart from that it was just sporadic dating which sometimes went terribly but more often than not ended up in a 'it's not you, it's me' conversation.

Stiles got to the bar 10 minutes early; he got himself a beer and snagged a small table. He smiled as he sipped his beer and considered how the evening might play out. Of all the outcomes he played with – most of them involving some sort of nightcap back at his apartment – none of them were remotely close to the actuality of what would happen.

A gust of cold air indicated that the bar door had been opened; Stiles looked up to see Lyla coming towards him. He stood up.

"Hey", he said smiling, "can I take your coat?"

Lyla pulled her scarf more firmly round her body and shook her head, "I can't stay, I'm sorry", she said quietly and perched herself on the chair opposite Stiles.

"Look, I know I should have said this before but you were so sweet and I did have a great time the other night…"

Stiles heaved in a breath and sighed, he knew what was coming. Why did it always end up exactly the same damn way?

"…it's just that I don't think it's a good idea to start anything with someone I work with. You know, it can get complicated down the line…" Lyla trailed off, looking at him with sad eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know", he said, breaking the eye contact and staring down at the table, "It's not me, it's you, blah, blah".

"I'm sorry", Lyla said leaning over to put a hand on one of his, "I hope you understand".

Stiles pulled his hands away from the table top before she could reach him. "Yeah, I understand, I understand only too well".

Lyla mistook his resignation for acceptance. "I hope we can still be friends, you're a great guy and I really do like you."

'But not enough to actually spend some time with me', thought Stiles to himself

"Well, thanks for coming, it must really have been an effort to drag yourself out in this weather, I appreciate it, thanks", he said, picking up his beer and draining the glass.

"Okay then", Lyla was unsure, "I'll see you Monday?"

"Guess so", said Stiles standing and turning towards the bar with his empty glass in his hand.

"I'm sorry, really I am", Lyla had one more try at leaving the situation with some dignity.

"Yeah, whatever…" and he didn't even watch her go as he sidled up to the bar and dropped himself on an empty stool there. Banging his empty glass on the counter to get the barman's attention, "JD, large and don't stop them till I tell you to".

Several hours later and Stiles still sat there, now holding his head in his hands and running them through his short dark hair. His consumption of Jack had slowed although it remained steady and because he was neither loud nor obnoxious, the barman had continued filling his glass at intervals.

Stiles had stayed there contemplating himself and wondering which of his many faults had turned the girl off this time. He wasn't the greatest looking dude in all the world but he knew he was passable; she might have just had a thing for tall guys. Perhaps it was his personality, he'd learned to reign in some of his wilder aspects as he got older but he could still be overly enthusiastic. Maybe Lyla had spotted how keen he was. After all, he'd only been hanging round the accounts department for about three months before he found the courage to ask her for a drink. Possibly one of her friends had warned her off, reminding her that she shouldn't date nerdy losers. Stiles shook his head, 'oh well, it was only to be expected'.

He reached into his pocket for his phone and thought about calling Scott but it was now nearing midnight and this wasn't a time for one of those calls. Perhaps a quick 'how you doing' text? He hadn't seen his old friend in an age but they still kept in contact. The distance between where he was now and his home town of Beacon Hills precluded weekend visits but Stiles would go home for the holidays and occasionally Scott would visit him in the city.

Scott had never really understood Stiles' need to escape Beacon Hills. Stiles thought back to his youth and the events that had changed his life and that of those close to him. He remembered how he had helped Scott through his change, helping him to come to terms with it and control himself. He recalled how close he had come to changing himself and _that_ was really the impetus to get the hell out of Dodge. Stiles didn't think he had the self-control to keep saying no. He knew that if he stayed something would happen, something would change and he had been petrified of what that might be. Deep down inside himself, he had felt a yearning for an intangible something and he wasn't quite sure it was right.

In the year before college, things had quietened down. The Alpha was dead and the new Alpha, Derek, disappeared soon after. Scott's girlfriend, Allison, came from a family of Hunters and although their prime motivation was to kill all weres, Scott's role in the death of the Alpha persuaded them that he was not the danger they supposed and their concentration lay in finding the new Alpha and dealing with him. This proved to be a fruitless task since Derek had apparently vanished without trace. As things settled back down to something approaching normality, Stiles mind turned increasingly to escape himself, which his college opportunities fortunately offered him and he left with his father's and Scott's grudging acceptance.

But still, on nights like this, the yearning would come out of nowhere and grip his heart and his mind in a fearsome hold. If only he knew what it actually was…

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About half an hour after Stiles had stumbled from the alley, a dark shadow crossed into it. The figure stood where Stiles had been earlier and raised its face into the air. After seemingly taking an inventory of all the facets in the ether, it looked around and caught sight of an object strewn to one side. It strode over, picked it up and examined it. It was a wallet, cast away in the collision between known and unknown. The figure put it in a pocket and slowly walked out of the alley, pausing briefly under a lamp. Anyone standing opposite would have seen a dark handsome face with cheekbones like carved marble and bright flashing eyes but then the impression would vanish, as quickly as the unseen figure did into the dark night.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I thank everyone who responded to this from the very bottom of my heart. I have no idea where it's going or how long it will be but we're in it for the ride.

Fic title is from the Whitesnake song but the song has absolutely nothing to do with the fic except that David Coverdale is pretty scary these days and the song mentions wolves but otherwise, nothing, you hear me? Nothing!

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. Dear Lord, if they were, TW wouldn't be on MTV!

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Even with his eyes closed, Stiles could tell that the day was half over. As consciousness overcame sleep, the pool of drool he was lying in became more obvious and uncomfortable. Stiles rolled over. "Ugh", he muttered to himself, throwing a hand up to wipe his cheek. He set his feet on the floor, noticed that he was still dressed and with his elbows on his knees and his head hanging, began to take a full body inventory.

Going from his feet up, he was relieved to find that all body parts were still attached but as he approached his head, the story started to change somewhat. His throat was rough and dry and swallowing reflexively didn't seem to shift the nasty taste in his mouth. He identified that he had a headache of the type that just intensified according to the degree of movement he allowed himself.

He opened one eye and cast a look at his alarm clock; the digits told him that it was after mid-day but not by much. He took a deep breath, stood up and stripping off his night-sweat soaked clothing, he dropped it piece by piece on the floor as he lurched to his bathroom. Stiles ran the shower for a moment or two and cleaned his teeth thoroughly while waiting for the plumbing to kick in. When he'd judged that the water would be warm enough but not too hot, he got in and stood under the torrent. With his eyes closed and his face turned into the stream, the events of the previous night started to come back to him.

Lyla's rejection of him was naturally the first thing he recalled and he thumped a fist on the shower wall in frustration then brought his hands up to wipe the water away from his face and head before beginning to wash his hair and then his body. He worked his way down, wondering all the while just how he could be in this place yet again. He seriously never had any luck with women, never! Stiles slipped his hand between his legs to wash his more intimate area and as he proceeded to soap his cock and balls, the flashback came out of nowhere.

Stiles fell back against the wall as impressions from the evening before washed over him like the water from the shower. A pause in the fabric of reality and then a great rushing enveloped him, like the passing of an express train when you're waiting on the same platform. Something had been in the alley with him, something that could have been familiar if he could just put his finger on what it was he was reminded of: a smell; a taste perhaps; a change in the atmosphere? Not a sound but a feeling. Yes, a feeling! But when _had_ he had that feeling before? Stiles couldn't remember.

'…The fuck was that?' Stiles thought to himself as he shifted off the wall and recommenced his ablutions. Nothing concrete would come back to him as he probed the inner recesses of his memories. Nothing tangible would form no matter how hard he searched. All this thinking was starting to make his headache worse so he finished up his washing, turned the water off and got out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. In amongst all the aches and pains arising from the previous day, the little empty space deep within him just begging to be filled was barely noticeable.

Stiles dressed carelessly, pulling on some jeans and a t-shirt that were closest to hand and moved to the kitchen with the aim of finding something to temper his banging head. He ran himself a glass of water and searched in a cupboard for some painkillers, throwing two down his throat and wincing as they hit the soreness when he swallowed, draining the glass.

That was good but not enough; he needed coffee, maybe that would kick-start his recall and help him work out what he had encountered. Stiles groaned as he remembered that he had run out during the week and had intended but failed to buy more. No matter, the coffee shop on the corner would provide and the fresh air would probably do him some good.

Returning to the bedroom, he picked up his scattered clothing, throwing it into the laundry basket as he checked each garment looking for his wallet. Not in his jeans, not in his shirt pocket, it must be in his jacket but no, it wasn't there either. It probably fell out when he undressed so he attempted to check over the rumpled bed and the floor but the bending down still aggravated his headache and he resolved to find it later. Grabbing a handful of change from the dish on his dresser, he left his apartment, slamming the door behind him and cringing at the sound it made, then he exited into the street, breathing in the crisp autumn air.

Stiles slumped into an easy chair in the window of the coffee shop nursing his double espresso grande. After having consumed a quarter or so of it he started to feel that little bit more human so he picked up the newspaper that someone else had left behind on the table. He perused the pages while slowly sipping on the rest of his beverage. He told himself he was checking for updates on the headlines of the day but what he was really looking for were those little one paragraph local stories; the ones that detailed odd occurrences that nobody ever took seriously. Reading the whole thing from front to back, there was nothing in there that he could remotely link to his experience.

As he put the paper back down, he felt a tickling as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up for no reason at all. It was the most unusual sensation, like he was being watched. He glanced round the shop but the rest of the patrons were immersed in their own business, much like he had been; no-one was paying any attention to him. He spun his head round to look out of the window into the street but again, nothing, just people going about their daily affairs, too busy to even check out a hangover –stricken man sitting in the window of a coffee shop.

The coffee and painkillers had started to do their work so Stiles left the shop to amble the short distance home. As he approached the main door for his apartment block he completely failed to see the tall man step out from behind a tree, the man who watched him as he crossed the last few feet to his destination. As the door closed behind Stiles, the man turned and walked away down the street in the opposite direction.

Once ensconced back in his apartment, Stiles recommenced the search for his wallet. This time he was more thorough, he rechecked all his clothing, stripped the sheets from the bed and shook them out. He even shone a torch below the bed on the off chance that he'd kicked it underneath there at some point. After a second cycle of checking found nothing he sat down on the edge of the bed. He supposed he could have left it at the bar so he elected to phone them later and ask if it had been handed in. The hangover was still present enough to make worrying about the situation an unwelcome chore, the answer then being to not think about it at all right now.

Stiles mooched out into his living room, switched the TV on and flopped down on the couch. He flicked through the sports channels, eventually settling on a football game between two teams he didn't care about and let the action and commentary wash over him. He let his mind free-form as he replayed his memories of the previous night's encounter. Twenty minutes later a quiet beep brought him out of his reverie. Realising it was his text alert, he palmed his phone from his pocket and saw that, of all people, the text was from Scott.

_**Hey buddy what's shaking in the big city? **_

Stiles tried to form a succinct reply but failed…several times. He bounced the phone on his knee and then manipulated the touch screen until he had Scott's number in front of him. He hit send.

"Hey Dude!" Stiles greeted Scott, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, we're fine, Ali's got a piece in an exhibition next week so we're all excited for that."

At college Allison had majored in Arts and that had led to her finding a talent for sculpture. Her kind of work wasn't pretty-pretty pieces but large, often disconcerting but intricate creations using found objects and metals. The skills she learned in her work had the benefit of also being handy for her side-line of modifying and making some of the weapons that were used in her family's more unusual occupation. Scott, on the other hand, had taken Business Studies at Community College which he then used to help him get a small but moderately successful grounds maintenance business going. It was generally agreed that outside was a better place for him to be working rather than being cooped up in an inside environment with all the potential change triggers that that could offer.

"That's great, wish her luck from me." Stiles was genuinely pleased, he didn't understand Allison's art but he appreciated the work that went into it.

"So, how was the big date?" Scott asked, "Any news for us there?"

Stiles wished he'd never mentioned Lyla to his friend. Scott and Allison were still sappy beyond belief but he knew that deep down, all they wanted was for him to have the same happiness in his life that they shared.

"No, man, the usual story there..." Stiles didn't want Scott to pursue this line of conversation, it was just tiring going through it all again and again so he ploughed straight on into the subject that had been bugging his mind for the last hour or so. "Listen, I wanted to ask, has there been any, umm…odd activity back home?"

"What do you mean 'odd activity'? Jim, two doors down, bought a sports car last month; we all thought that was pretty odd." Typically Scott failed to read between the lines.

"No, I mean activity of a more nightly kind. Oh look, have you been wolfing out more, has anybody else been wolfing out or anything like that?" Stiles spat out his question in desperation for an answer.

"No, no, nothing like that at all. You know it's fairly quiet here now, I'd have told you if anything happened. Why you asking?" Scott was now definitely curious.

Stiles debated how much to tell him, he could be on the wrong track and he didn't need to set a false trail in Scott's mind, he knew Scott would worry and make something out of potentially nothing.

"Well…." Stiles drew out, still debating but eventually electing to go with honesty, "there was just this strange _thing_ last night and the only thing I could put my finger on was that it gave me the same sense of risk and danger that I felt when, you know…" Stiles paused, still unwilling to put into words the unformed thoughts he'd been having "…the Alpha was around."

"What?" exclaimed Scott, "No, nothing like that, it's quiet here, you know it is. What the hell happened then?"

Stiles sighed and rubbed his free hand over his head. Telling Scott was just going to make something that was nothing, something and then he'd never hear the end of it from Scott, and God help him if he told Allison because then he'd have it coming at him from two directions.

"Look, I was a bit drunk, okay? It could easily be nothing at all."

"Yeah, but what was it, what happened?"

"So, I was in this alleyway near here and there was something else there with me and I don't think it was human but I didn't see anything really, I was drunk, it's just a feeling I got." The words just tumbled out of Stiles' mouth like an avalanche.

"What were you doing in an alleyway?" Scott, as usual, fastened on the wrong piece of information.

"I was throwing up, okay? It's not important why, just don't ask."

"That girl, huh?" Scott could be remarkably prescient at the worst moments.

"Yes….No…that's not the point, the point is I felt something, it touched me and even when I'm trashed I can tell the difference between a family pet and a ravenous, snarling beastie. The fucking thing knocked me over, it wasn't Snuggles out on a nightly walk!"

"Oh…wow!" Stiles appeared to have finally made Scott think. "I don't know, I mean you looked into this far more than I ever did but from everything I ever heard, wolves don't like cities."

"Yeah, that's what I thought", admitted Stiles. "You think there's maybe something else out there, something maybe _we_ don't even know about?"

"Seriously, man, I don't know. Ten years ago, we'd have laughed if someone had tried to tell us that werewolves were real. There could be anything out there."

"Thanks bud, way to reassure the scared shitless city boy here."

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing", stated Stiles firmly, "I'm not going to _do_ anything, I'm certainly not going to go out looking for something that potentially has razor sharp teeth and claws and could rip me to shreds. I'm going to stick to beer in future and I'm gonna stop asking out unobtainable women."

"Okay but you gotta let me know if anything else happens. Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. Hey, give my love to Allison will you?" Stiles succeeded in changing the subject back to the one he knew was Scott's favourite.

"I will", said Scott and Stiles could hear the smile in his voice as Scott thought about his girlfriend. "But you know she's going to ask when we'll be seeing you next."

"I dunno, Thanksgiving probably, I'll give it some thought, 'k?"

"Yeah, look, take it easy, don't go chasing after monsters. We're not there to back you up."

"Yeah, you too. Talk soon, bud." Stiles put his phone down and considered the conversation he'd just had. He shook his head, he'd got no real answers and sometimes it just wasn't worth overthinking things.

The game on TV was over now so Stiles mooched around his apartment doing weekend chores and trying to put all thoughts of mysterious encounters out of his mind. He'd had more than enough weirdness a decade ago and his move to the city had been, in part, to ensure he never had to deal with any of that again.

Later on that day he phoned the bar he'd visited the previous night but they hadn't had anything handed in so Stiles resigned himself to phoning his bank the next day to cancel all his credit cards. That was just going to be an almighty nuisance until the new ones came through.

There wasn't much else to do and he had no plans for the evening so, still tired from the excesses of his unplanned alcoholic bender, after some supper he went to bed early and fell into a dreamless sleep. His sleep was blissfully uninterrupted except that when he got up to answer a call of nature in the middle of night, while stumbling back to bed after, eyes closed and half asleep, he felt the hairs on the back of his head rise again as if in warning of some unseen threat. He fell back to bed confused and anxious. Who on earth could possibly be watching him at 2 o' clock in the morning?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters; if I did they would be obligated to be naked a lot more.

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The night's sleep had done Stiles a power of good and he woke refreshed quite early on the Sunday morning. The faint memory he had of a strange foreboding moment during the night he put down to stress and the worry arising from his exhausting weekend.

After the usual morning routine was taken care of, he wandered into the kitchen to put on some coffee only to immediately remember that he didn't have any. A trip to the market was therefore called for. Stiles dressed and then remembered he'd lost his wallet, so all he had was the small amount of change still left in his dresser dish. Torn between being equally cross with himself and jonesing for caffeine, he recalled that he often threw singles into the dish so perhaps there might be enough for coffee and some breakfast, if nothing else. He went to look and there, exquisitely placed right on top of his loose change was his wallet. He did a double take.

Stiles picked up his wallet in some confusion and turned it over in his hands like it was a completely foreign object. He opened it and his cards were all there and so, indeed, was the money he'd not spent on the Friday night, although there wasn't an awful lot left. Puzzled, he sat down and tried to work out how he'd missed it before. He knew he'd searched his room thoroughly and he knew that he'd been to the change dish yesterday so shouldn't he have seen it then? He realised that he was starting to get a bit obsessive when he caught himself wondering if he'd been tidying up in his sleep. No-one else had been in his apartment so no-one else could have moved it.

Without answers and still in need of his fix, he put the wallet in his jacket pocket – one that zipped up, he didn't need the thing disappearing again – and headed off out, albeit relieved that he could, at least, do a proper grocery shop. Upon returning, he set the coffee off before putting the groceries away and then sat down to enjoy his mug of Joe.

Stiles had a standing arrangement to meet work colleagues at a sports bar near their office every Sunday lunchtime. It was a flexible arrangement with people making it or not according to their other social commitments. Usually it was the younger unattached ones who turned up most frequently but there was a core group of about four or five who could be counted on to be present come rain or shine. Stiles thought that today he would go; he could do with getting out of the apartment and forgetting about things that vanished and then mysteriously reappeared or things that shouldn't exist but did. He grabbed his keys and went to get his car out of the garage behind the apartments.

Derek Hale watched Stiles leave the building from behind the darkened windows of his Camaro parked opposite on the road. Yes, he was a creature of habit and he liked this car even if it wasn't exactly the same one as he'd had when he'd last seen Stiles a decade ago. He didn't even bother to slip down in his seat when he saw Stiles drive past him five minutes later. He knew Stiles wouldn't see him because Stiles wasn't looking for him.

Giving it another five minutes because he was nothing if not thorough and better plans had been blighted by an unexpected return, he slipped from his car and crossed over to the apartments. Bypassing the main door, Derek went round the side of the building and checking that he was unobserved, he extended his right hand, looked down at it in concentration and then used the emergent claws to pick the lock of the side entrance that led to the utility area of the block. From there it was a moment's work to slide through the fire door, up the stairs and with the same technique, gain access to Stiles' apartment.

Derek stood with his back to the door and took in the arrangement of the room in front of him. He wanted to be sure that if he moved something, it would go back in exactly the same place. He'd already seen the apartment at night so he had a general idea but it was the little details that always caught you out so it was worth spending a few minutes checking the relationship of everything to everything else. He would do this in each room he entered.

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Derek couldn't believe it when he'd run into Stiles the other night. He'd been going hell for leather to get away from some Hunters who'd tracked him on the other side of town. He'd been fairly sure he'd lost them already but he intended to make certain by covering distance as quickly as possible. After almost ten years in this city, he knew all the less travelled routes a night creature might use to get around.

He'd been absolutely belting along this alleyway and he knew that two blocks over was the park where, on the other side, he'd left his car. He never parked in the same place twice and it had been several months since he'd even been in this part of town. He'd picked up an acrid scent ahead of him which made his nose twitch but didn't hinder his speed any and then suddenly there was a figure in front of him. Derek didn't even pause for a heartbeat; he barrelled straight on through, catching the figure a glancing blow as he shot past. He caught another scent in the wake of the impact but he didn't stop to analyse it until he was over the road, through the park and standing underneath some trees near his car. This was where he changed back to human.

Deliberately taking in a few slow breaths through his nose, as if to clear his senses, Derek pulled that scent from the filing cabinet of his mind. Now that he was no longer concentrating on escape and subterfuge, he knew exactly whose scent it was. Everyone he'd ever smelled was up there in storage, it was part of a wolf's mental toolkit to know who he'd met before and identify them when they met again no matter how much time had passed. But dammit, Stiles! What the hell was he doing here and who else was with him?

Derek got into his car and relaxed into the driver's seat. He didn't turn the ignition on yet, he shut his eyes and let the memories of Stiles flood him. He'd had a certain grudging fondness for the boy back when they were dealing with the Alpha in Beacon Hills. He thought he was smart and ingenious and he even privately conceded that he could be amusing from time to time although Stiles would never hear him laugh or even see him twitch a smile at anything he said. All in all, Stiles would have been one of the reasons for Derek staying in Beacon Hills, if the situation hadn't warranted his leaving almost overnight.

The memories infused Derek with warmth, with thoughts of a camaraderie he'd not had since and that he immediately realised he'd missed even though he'd barely thought of Stiles after leaving Beacon Hills. He knew that even if he ignored all of this, he owed it to himself to find out more about Stiles' presence in the city if only because Stiles knew Hunters. He could track his scent from the alleyway; find out where he'd gone afterwards.

He started the Camaro and headed around the park in the direction he'd just run from. Parking up near the alley, he waited until the street was empty of pedestrians and traffic before getting out and silently entering the unlit passage where he'd had the surprising encounter. Derek's first impression was again one of an acrid unpleasantness. He traced that immediately to a pile of vomit cast at the side of the alley - nice. Lifting his head up he attempted to filter the noxious odour from the rest of the scents pervading the area. Even with that smell, the aroma of Stiles was strong; he should easily be able to find the boy's final destination. Glancing around he caught sight of something almost hidden under a dumpster. He picked it up and knew without even opening it that the wallet belonged to Stiles. He pocketed it, enjoying the realisation that he wouldn't even need to track him since the wallet almost certainly held his address.

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Derek looked around the living room and wondered where to begin, He needed to get some feel for how Stiles was living now. Did he still associate with the same people? Did he feel the same way about them? Were any of them here? Who were enemies, who were friends? Only then could he judge what to do next. He slightly regretted coming in the other night and leaving the wallet but in all honesty the chance of Stiles working out what had happened was so small as to be worth the risk. There had just been that one nasty moment when he'd got up to use the toilet but Derek had shrunk back into the shadows behind a door and although he thought that the boy had maybe picked up on something, he wasn't really awake and had fallen back to sleep very quickly. Derek decided he had to stop thinking of Stiles as 'the boy' – he obviously wasn't that any more.

He'd also done his homework, he now knew where Stiles worked and it wasn't a long stretch to then find out exactly what he did. He'd gone through all the personal documents in Stiles' wallet but none of that really told him what he need to know. The only thing to do was search the apartment.

Over in the corner of the room was a desk with a laptop on it. That would be the best place to begin so Derek sat down there and started to rifle through the small amount of paperwork scattered about. Most of it appeared to be work related and therefore uninteresting but Derek found his first useful piece of information buried at the bottom of one of the piles. It was a postcard from Maui that had been sent the previous summer. On it a rough scrawl indicated that Scott and Allison were having a wonderful time and wished that Stiles could have been there too. So that relationship was still intact.

Finding little else of help, he opened the top desk drawer. In amongst the usual scrabble of pens and staplers and other bits and pieces, two small books lay tucked in there. One was an address book and the other a diary. Derek examined them closely, learning that most everyone else he remembered from Beacon Hills was still living in Beacon Hills. The Argents were still apparently there although Derek doubted they were on Stiles' Christmas card list so he would have to maybe take that one as unsubstantiated. Surprisingly Jackson was now listed at an address in New York and Lydia in Chicago. Well, Derek was surprised that Jackson had made it out of Beacon Hills but entirely unsurprised to find Lydia was nowhere near, he'd never thought that romance would last.

The diary offered fewer clues, there wasn't even a lot in it. A couple of weeks marked out as 'holiday' and the odd appointment but otherwise not helpful at all. Probably Stiles kept most of his more useful information on his laptop or phone. Derek really wanted to boot up the laptop but he'd bet his car that Stiles kept it password protected. Giving in to temptation, Derek powered up the machine. Yep, his car was safe. He typed in a few possibilities but without much hope. None of them worked and Derek was oddly reassured that Stiles took his security seriously. Carefully he shut down the computer and put everything back as he had found it.

He turned his attention to the bookcase next to the desk. There were quite a few programming manuals, some reference books and a handful of thrillers. What there wasn't was anything at all supernaturally related. Derek found that a bit strange, when he'd last been in a room belonging to Stiles, you couldn't move for tripping over books on old legends and werewolf lore. The living room failed to yield up anything else of interest so Derek worked his way through the kitchen and bedroom next.

It seemed that the Stiles of today was a very different creature to the version Derek had been familiar with. There was precious little personal stuff around and unless Stiles kept all his juicy secret things in the bathroom, Derek appeared to be shit out of luck. Only some letters from Scott in one of the dresser drawers warranted further examination and even then the news held within them was bland with barely a reference to wolves or past events.

Derek wandered back out to the living room and sat down on the sofa; he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth and contemplated what to do next. He really had to find out if Stiles was a potential link between the Argents and the Hunters in the city. Just because there were no hints that he could find, didn't mean that they didn't exist. Derek was going to have to do the one thing he'd hoped to avoid, he was going to have to ask Stiles.

Stiles was almost the same person he'd been before his date with Lyla. It had been a really great idea to hit the bar, there'd been a good turnout – almost ten of them - and Stiles had spent the last couple of hours in fury of sports, testosterone and beer. Only one drink for him though, Friday was still too recent plus he was driving but the atmosphere and banter had put a lot of the stranger events of the weekend out of his mind. He'd even managed to fend off the inevitable questioning about how his date had gone, meaning he wouldn't have to deal with it on the Monday.

Stiles parked his car and walked back round to the front of the building. He figured he'd put on a DVD or two, maybe order in some take-out and make his weekly call home to his Father. Whistling tunelessly he unlocked his apartment door, trying to choose between the latest Bourne movie or something a bit geekier like Iron Man. He didn't expect to be faced with the one person he never thought he'd see again, sitting in his recliner, half turned towards the door.

"Hello Stiles", said Derek with a smile that wasn't really a smile…


	4. Chapter 4

"GET…THE FUCK…OUT…OF MY HOME"

In the split second between a closed door and an open one, Stiles had put the whole thing together. It was Derek who had careened past him in the alley and that explained the vague feelings of recognition he'd experienced. It was Derek who had returned his wallet and that meant he must have been in Stiles' apartment last night as well. Stiles was seething.

"Oh, come on now; is that any way to greet an old friend?" Derek's tone was still far from friendly.

"I don't care; you're no friend of mine. How dare you just…just walk in here…..twice!"

Stiles' initial anger was now giving way to apprehension. He still hadn't moved from the doorway. In an instant, Derek had risen from the chair, pushed the door closed behind Stiles and effectively pinned him to it. It had been quite some time since Stiles had had his movement restricted in such a way - about ten years to be honest. He wasn't sixteen anymore and he had been spending the odd afternoon at the gym so he thought that maybe, this time, it would be different. He tried to bring his arms up through Derek's to break the hold but failed. Derek pushed in closer to Stiles and hissed in his face.

"I just need to ask you a question."

"Ever heard of email?" Stiles snarled back, he was damned if he was going to be intimidated by the wolf anymore, he might still be geeky but he wasn't going to be a pushover.

Derek loosened his grip and allowed Stiles to slide out from under his hold. He was actually quietly impressed that this older Stiles would stand up to him.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I just want information, you don't understand how important it is." Derek affected a more reasonable tone. "Look, can we not just sit down for a few minutes and then I'll go and you can forget about this?"

With the threat of bodily harm lifted, Stiles was prepared to give Derek a small break. He gestured to the recliner and sat on the sofa himself.

"I suppose the quicker we deal with this, the quicker you'll be gone but this is gonna go two ways. There are some things I want to know too."

Derek conceded with a shrug, "OK, you first."

"How long have you been here?"

"A little over eight years. You?"

"I came here for college and never went back. Did you know I was here?" Stiles really wanted to know if this whole business was a one-off or whether he'd been stalked for a while.

"No, I had no idea, not until we, uh, _met_the other night"

"OK", Stiles was mildly relieved; at least his whole life hadn't been under the microscope without him knowing. He thought for a moment, tapping his fingers on his chin. "What are you doing here?"

"Right now, I don't know that I want to share that with you." Derek's patience was starting grow thin. "My turn. You still talk to Scott, don't you?" Stiles nodded. "And he's still with Allison, yes?" Stiles nodded again, unsure where this was going. "How is it between Scott and her family?"

"You know, you could have just picked up the phone for this. Or perhaps we could have included you on the Argent Christmas round robin. But, oh…no…we didn't know where the fuck you were!"

Stiles threw himself back on the sofa and gave Derek a look like he was the stupidest thing on earth.

"This is important, answer the question."

Derek's eyes narrowed and Stiles got the impression that a breaking point could be reached quite soon. He sighed.

"They tolerate him. He really does have it under control; you taught him well, you should be proud." Although he didn't want to rile Derek up any more, Stiles couldn't help a trace of mockery creeping into his voice." Allison has devised some ways to keep him, um, 'safe' around the full moon. As long as he doesn't wolf out in public or start devouring cute animals they leave him alone. Allison said she didn't care what her heritage was; if they laid so much as a harsh look on him she would disown them. Anyway, they were far more interested in what happened to you." Stiles leaned forward, "What did happen to you?"

He wasn't going to catch Derek out that easily, Derek just ignored the question.

"Did you ever see or hear about them associating with any other Hunters? Any strange visitors to the Argent house or long trips away?

"No, no and no. I was barely there any longer than you. It was quiet, we wanted to keep it all very quiet and somehow, God knows how, we managed it."

The tension in Derek's voice intensified but his tone dropped. He fixed Stiles with a steely glare. "Look Stiles, this is important; people's lives could depend on it. I have to know what you know."

Stiles was frustrated now. "You keep saying it's important but I don't know anything! Don't you get it? I've spent the last ten years trying to forget I ever did know anything. Now, will you please go?"

Derek relaxed a little but his eyes continued to bore through Stiles'. Stiles thought the back of the sofa might spontaneously combust. Taking on a more conversational tone, Derek said, "You know, you did a good job back there. It wasn't easy and we all had choices to make. Yours were OK."

Stiles couldn't look Derek in the eye anymore; he dropped his head and stared at the floor. It was all starting to feel real again and the buried memories he'd tried so hard to keep down were fighting to break loose. "I was a kid; I woke up every morning and thought that was the day I was going to die. I was scared shitless and running on nothing. When it was over I never wanted to ever feel that way again." A tear threatened to escape Stiles' eye.

Derek was starting to appreciate just what the actions of the Alpha had cost Stiles. "But you did good, kid, I don't think you realise…"

Stiles broke in, "I'm not a kid anymore, I stopped being a kid the minute I found out that human wasn't the species at the top of the food chain. I lost my innocence in a few short weeks, you and your kind saw to that. So you'll excuse me if I don't want to relive the past with the person responsible"

"Stiles", Derek leaned towards him, "Stiles look at me." The upward glance was reluctant but eventual. Stiles just looked like the saddest thing Derek had ever seen, a world of hurt etched on his face. This is time it was Derek's turn to cut some slack.

"The Argents have their traditions but so do we; it's the only way to pass the skills on, to ensure survival. We tell tales, we exchange experiences as much as we can because one wolf can learn a lot from another, about enemies and the tactics that work on them. We help each other stay prepared. Humans don't help wolves, they run from us, we don't trust them. But you, you didn't run and you trusted Scott and then you started to trust me a little and the oddest thing, the most unusual, I actually trusted you more. Do you know how rare that is?"

"No, how could I? It was all new to me. We didn't get a manual on dealing with supernatural creatures." Stiles was still feeling defensive, the unexpected rush of buried emotions had floored him.

Derek, on the other hand, was surprising himself with how confessional he was becoming but it felt quite cathartic so he continued, "Well it is rare. I've come across teams of wolves that've taken down a rogue Alpha before but I've never come across a human helping a wolf. Not unless they were forced to. I didn't really get to thanking you before so I'm doing it now."

"Think nothing of it, believe me, I try to." The fight was starting to leave Stiles and he could almost emphasise with the struggles of the secret brotherhood of wolves. Almost...but he wasn't quite there yet.

The beginnings of an idea were floating round Derek's mind. "Stiles, there's a situation now; you know I could probably use some help with it...if you wanted to, of course."

"Oh, why the hell not? I've been in deadly peril before; it should be second nature by now."

"Your fondness for sarcasm hasn't changed I see but no, this wouldn't involve putting yourself in the frontline, it's more your computer skills I'm after."

Stiles was damned if he was going to do something for nothing. "If you want me to help you, you owe it to me to tell me why you left and why you never contacted Scott, at the very least. He wasn't ready, you know, we could only support him so far but he really needed someone to talk to, someone who understood exactly what he was going through. And there you weren't."

Derek had already told Stiles far more about lupine ways than he ever intended to. However, for the first time in an age he was feeling the benefits of unburdening himself. It felt pretty good, he may as well continue.

"I left because as an Alpha, I had the skills to help others, to lead and protect. As a community, we were really taking a hit in some areas. Other Alphas had been taken out and the pups couldn't look after themselves on their own."

"But wasn't that exactly what Scott was, you left him defenceless, what if the Argents had tried to kill him?"

"Scott had you and Allison. I thought the Argents would leave him alone for a while. I never meant to be away for so long but it turned into a war."

"A war, a war against whom?"

"Do you think the Argents are the only hunters out there? They're not and some of the others are even more ruthless and cruel. I came here because a young pack had taken refuge in the city and were being picked off one by one. I stayed because these Hunters need to be stopped."

"What makes them so different from the Argents, what makes them so much more of a threat?" Stiles wondered how all this could have kept Derek away from his home for almost a decade.

"They have no noble reasons for the fight; they are only interested in sport. They don't just kill us, they torture us first. Not like Kate did, worse; they make us fight other animals and they bet on the outcomes. Sometimes they'll release a captured wolf and then hunt it in teams. Only a few have ever escaped, it was several years before we even knew what was happening to us. "

"Wow!" Stiles was incredulous, and then a thought struck him. "But you left Scott alone, unprotected, knowing that there are people like that out there and knowing that other Hunters knew where he was?"

"And that's a part of the matter. We don't think these Hunters are affiliated to any others. We think this group found out about us by chance and have been taking advantage of us ever since. As long as that is the case then Scott is safe."

Stiles considered Derek's tale. "Okay, I get the threat but I don't see what I can do for you."

"In all this time, we haven't got close to the head of the group, the core that runs it. We've taken out a few of them but they are only doing what they've been paid for, the ones that control them, we can't get near. I thought that perhaps with your skills, you could look in place we don't know about. Could you track them online? We think that's how they organise their 'events'"

A little spark of excitement had hit Stiles, his mind was ablaze with possible ways to tackle Derek's problem. The adrenaline boost had kicked off another whole wave of recollections but this time it was all about the buzz he used to get in the thrill of the chase. Stiles looked Derek in the eye and smiled for the first time that afternoon.

"Yeah, I can do that," he confidently nodded.

"So you're in?" Derek was simultaneously relieved and petrified, he could almost feel his fur tingling. Deep down in his bones he knew this was going to be a game changer in the war against the Hunters, he just didn't know how.

"I'm in", confirmed Stiles.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: So not mine, that's why I have to write this.

"Ha!" exclaimed Stiles, simultaneously slamming the two airborne legs of his chair down to the floor and slapping his desk hard with his hands. "Gotcha!"

An email had just pinged in his inbox and after he gave it a cursory read he groped for his phone in the pocket of his shirt and brought up his recent calls. Picking a number from the list, he hit call.

"Derek, I think I've got something, do you want to come over and see?...OK, right, I'll see you in a half hour."

Stiles was feeling a little bit smug but he still wanted to double check everything before Derek arrived. He opened a few folders, cross-checked some things against some web-pages and made sure all the relevant documents were up on his screen. A broad grin split his face, he loved it when he'd cracked a problem, it was almost like sex… and the demonstration of proof, well, that was like the figurative cigarette afterwards.

Less than twenty five minutes later he heard a quiet tapping at his door. He burst out of the chair and made the door in three strides. Throwing it wide, he pulled Derek inside.

"That was quick; bet you really want to see this, don't you? Hey, are you pissed there isn't a tree next to my window you can use to get in, instead of the door?" Stiles laughed at his own joke while yanking Derek towards the workstation.

Derek shook his arm free and gave Stiles one of those looks, this halted Stiles for a micro-second but then he carried on, too hyped on his own enthusiasm to stop just yet. "I knew I was getting somewhere when that guy on Craigslist sent me the link. There could be a hundred of them but you only need one to let something slip. This is great, we're almost there, just a little finessing…."

"Chill, Stiles", Derek broke in, "I'm not going to listen to you until you calm down."

"OK, OK", Stiles took a deep breath and sat back down at the laptop, the manic exuberance starting to ebb a little. Derek went and got another chair and moved it to sit next to Stiles; he did this very slowly. "Now tell me", he said.

"Right, well, you know how I did searches through hunting forums for weird stuff but didn't really find anything? It hit me that I was going at it the wrong way. Instead of looking for them, I should make them come to me." Stiles clicked open a web-page to show a Craigslist ad. "I posted this…"

_I'm bored with hunting deer, can anybody provide me with a new challenge? Money and distance no problem._

"It took a week or so and I got some real stupid replies – have you any idea how many people out there have a sexual fantasy about being chased? - But this turned up today."

Stiles clicked on the reply, it was very to the point: _Try here_ and then a weblink. The link took them to a site called Ultimate Hunting. By far the bulk of the content was members only but there was a short introduction on the home page which, while still vague, gave enough of a hint that this was something different and unusual.

"So it looks like I need a membership and then they'll invite me to one of their events."

Derek looked slightly apprehensive, he'd been trying to track this group for years, had Stiles really found them in a matter of weeks? "Are you sure this is them?"

"No, but there's definitely something dodgy going on and the only way to know for sure is to get in there and see. You can't find this site on a Google search, I tried. You have to be linked to it by someone else. So, anyway, while I was waiting for something to bite, I constructed this whole fake persona and now I've sent off an application."

He brought up some different pages and Derek leaned forward to see. Staring intently at the mocked up blogs and networking profiles, Derek was impressed with the authenticity of them, they didn't look fake at all. Both men were now crowded round the laptop screen, Derek turned to Stiles with an almost smile on his face. Stiles held his eye for a moment and then said, "Photoshop is _the_ awesome!" He broke the gaze and leaned back in his chair, indolently staring around the room, anywhere in fact but at Derek. The wolf in him thought Stiles looked far from relaxed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Since that first day when Stiles had found Derek in his apartment, Stiles life had imperceptibly changed. Well, imperceptibly to most casual observers but almost cataclysmically to Stiles; everything had turned upside down. Work was no longer the most important thing for him, he couldn't wait to get out at five o'clock, get home and get on with the research. It kind of reminded him of before, back when Scott was turned and they were still ignorant.

He had something to be excited about again. He realised that he'd spent many years trying not to be excited and, more or less, succeeding. Stiles wondered why he'd suppressed this feeling, the adrenaline buzz was intoxicating. This wasn't the excitement of a new date or working on a project, this was something bigger, something raw and feral. And speaking of raw and feral, wolfy-boy had taken to making frequent unscheduled appearances.

Stiles was a bit uncomfortable the first few times. Either he would come home and find Derek waiting or he would turn around and find that Derek had gained silent access whilst he was deep in concentration. Once he'd even woken up to find Derek looming over him. That instance gave rise to a conversation about personal space and courtesy calls but it hadn't really made that much difference.

One night Derek had appeared just as Stiles was hitting a huge wall of frustration. Derek had watched him for several minutes, seeing him get progressively more annoyed. Eventually, Stiles had slammed away from the desk. Throwing his hands in the air he exclaimed, "Fuck this!" And moving to the kitchen, "Do you want a beer?" That was the game changer, that night they talked properly for the first time since the home invasion, as Stiles liked to call it.

"It was scary but addictive", Stiles confessed. "I could see myself wanting more and sometimes I wanted to be like Scott, I know I would have been a whole lot better at it than him. I would have made a more cunning werewolf. Looking back now I can see that was just stupid naivety. That was why I had to get away from everything, I couldn't trust myself."

"I would never have bitten you and I wouldn't have let Scott either." Derek assured him

"But that's not the point, it was something I shouldn't have wanted. And you know what? There's something else from that time but I can't put my finger on it. I spent so long not thinking about any of it, that now I can't remember what I forgot in the first place."

From that day on, Stiles minded less about Derek's visits, he grew used to the two sides of Derek Hale. The one: taciturn, direct but shielded and the other: looser more conversational, the one that would open up to Stiles about his family and his grief for them. On the odd occasions that Stiles found himself alone in the evenings, he always felt some kind of anticipation, like the door was going to open, any second…

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A couple of days after Stiles had made his breakthrough, Derek sat on Stiles' sofa waiting for him to finish making updates to his profiles. He didn't mind this downtime even though he was usually a person that had to be doing something all the time. He found it restful to take the time to analyse and consider the situation and also the conversations he'd been having with Stiles. He could have done this at his apartment but there was something warm and hypnotic about sitting listening to the relentless clatter of Stiles' keyboard.

Derek had gone over their conversations many times, piecing in things that Stiles told him and measuring them against his own recollections; examining motives and the decisions that both of them made. He was pretty sure he knew what this thing was that Stiles couldn't remember. Actually he got it the first time Stiles mentioned it but he didn't want to say anything in case there was a really good reason why Stiles had blacked it out…

There was this one time that the Argents had come after them. They were impatient to find the Alpha and were starting to use more open tactics. Derek had been trying to train Scott out in the woods and Stiles was leaning against a tree passing a dry commentary on Scott's inability to take even the simplest lesson and learn from it. Suddenly Derek stopped, head straight up.

"They're coming ", he said, "run!"

"The fuck? Run where? Who's coming?" Styles scrabbled away from the tree, desperately looking round.

"Split up and go, find somewhere to hide, they can't smell you and they haven't got dogs so you'll only get caught if you get their attention. Come back to my house at least half an hour after you last hear any noise at all but be careful. Go!"

Derek gestured away from the clearing they were in. Stiles looked at Scott, his eyes had taken on that weird glow and he was starting to change. Scott grunted "Stay safe" at him and loped off into the undergrowth. Stiles panicked then and burst off in a different direction making more noise than an army of elephants. Derek looked on after him and knew that he would have to lead the Hunters away for the boys to have any chance of escape. He set off to make a false trail to draw them to him instead.

Ten minutes later Derek was confident that the Argents were a few minutes behind him. He'd gone away from were Scott and Stiles had been heading and in the direction of the Hunters' approach. As long as neither boy had doubled back everything was good. He could feel the Argents on the periphery of his senses but now he was getting something else, a kind of cold dread coupled with blind panic and it was coming closer.

Derek snaked out into Stiles' haphazard path and grabbed him by the wrist; he pulled him back into the trees and dragged him about 20 yards back. He threw him down on his back behind a clump of small saplings and then threw himself on top of Stiles, clamping a hand over his mouth from above.

"Sssh, don't even breathe, they're near." Derek hissed at him. Stiles wriggled a bit but got the message when Derek extended his canines and growled ever so quietly in his ear. He wasn't even surprised to feel Stiles' fear increase at the threat. He concentrated and forced his own heartbeat to slow down, they were so close that Stiles was bound to feel it and hopefully empathise and relax slightly too.

After a moment they heard a small shuffle of movement less than a hundred yards away. The Argents were good but even they couldn't remain totally silent. The noise came a little closer. Derek stiffened his body, laying completely over Stiles, trying to press him into the ground. He could look down and see the myriad of emotions in Stiles' eyes. He saw utmost panic flash across and resignation, then something that he thought might be irony pass over. He stared through this vortex of fear, deep into the scared brown eyes, willing Stiles to stay as still as possible. Stiles pretty much complied, that is, all except one part of him.

Like a Doppler shift but excruciatingly slowly, the tracks of the Argents receded away from them. They were still several minutes from safety and any movement, even slight could draw the Hunters' attention again. Derek carefully removed his hand from Stiles' mouth.

"Oh God! Oh my fucking God!" Stiles breathed out in swift exhalations, still tense beyond belief.

"Just stay still for another couple of minutes." Derek mouthed in his ear. As the monotony of waiting took over, Derek became aware of Stiles' extra excitement. 'Oh, jeez, he's got a boner', he thought, loosing a tiny hmph of amusement.

"What?" muttered Stiles.

"Nothing", murmured back Derek but the twist of his lips indicated otherwise. He figured since he had the time, he might as well enjoy it; who didn't like their attractiveness validated and Derek had always been an equal opportunities player. It could just have been the tense situation that brought it on but it was worth finding out one way or another. He shifted minutely but it was enough to bring his groin cock to cock with Stiles'. The boy almost deflated, a silent sigh escaped his mouth and he turned away, unable to move and unable to look at Derek; his dick stayed resolutely hard though.

A little more of this and Derek felt he'd tormented Stiles enough, he'd heard no sound for a good five minutes and knew it was safe to move again. He pushed up slightly on his hands freeing up Stiles arms and upper body but keeping their hips and legs together. Stiles wriggled his arms out and grasped Derek behind the neck pulling him down to him, he smashed their mouths together. It was clumsy and awkward but in a weird way Derek was touched, he could tell the boy had no experience at all in kissing and very little natural skill so he couldn't help but think the nicest thing to do would be to show him how it was really done.

Derek pulled away enough that the intense pressure from Stiles' arms wrapped round him loosened. He almost pulled away from his lips as well but as he retreated he caught Stiles lower lip between his and gently sucked it before laying further soft kisses against Stiles' mouth. Once the boy had relaxed into the kiss, Derek ran his tongue along Stiles' lips again and teased his mouth into opening. Stiles may have been a novice but Derek was certainly going to give him points for trying. He let Derek explore his mouth and then took the initiative to explore himself. As their tongues met, Stiles groaned and his cock twitched against Derek who was now grinding an impressive bulge into Stiles' leg himself. Stiles moved his right hand from where it had been twirling softly in Derek's hair down to caress his cheek and the kiss that had started impulsively turned into something far more impassioned then either of them could ever have imagined.

Inevitably they drew apart, sucking in shallow breaths. "God, I have wanted to do that for the longest time" admitted Stiles quietly.

Derek sat back on the boy's thighs and stared at him thoughtfully for a moment. He was a firm believer in not mixing business with pleasure and every time he'd broken that rule his life had turned into a complete crock of shit. It wasn't fair to bring this kid into his world and open him up to the risks that lay there, not when he _was_ still a kid and had a whole life ahead of him. Still able to taste Stiles on his lips, he steeled himself to turn the experience into a memory instead of a glorious springboard into possibilities. He sprung up off Stiles and held out his hand to pull him up too. Stiles accepted the gesture but when he was upright seemed disinclined to let go. Holding Derek's hand in his, he examined it closely, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of it. Derek abruptly pulled away. He fixed the surprised Stiles with a mean glower.

"Perhaps it was a mistake to wake the wolf." He turned and pushed back into the woods towards his old house, he fully expected Stiles to follow him.

"Wait, what the hell, a mistake?" stuttered Stiles scrambling over roots and branches to catch up. Derek stopped and turned back to him still glowering.

"Don't play with things you can't handle" stated Derek firmly. "Now, be quiet, follow me carefully and don't say another word until I say you can. The Hunters could still be out there. Move!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Lost in his reflections, Derek uncharacteristically jumped a little when Stiles gave a yell.

"I'm in, they've accepted my membership. Let's have a look and see what they're really offering. Derek moved from the couch to join Stiles and watched while he navigated around the now open website. They could view photos of cage fights although the participants where still ambiguous. The wording though sparse promised the 'excitement' of watching wild animals fight to the death.

"Shit, that's awful!" Stiles turned to Derek to see that his usual pale skin had turned ghostly white and his fangs were just starting to peak through. Derek strained to put his wolf back in abeyance.

"I knew some of them, a few were pups, younger than you, they never stood a chance like that." He said painfully. Back in control of himself he wanted nothing more than to see this through to the bitter end. "Find out more", he all but ordered the shaken Stiles.

Stiles continued investigating the website while Derek sat back, eyes half closed recalling those he had once known but who had disappeared suddenly. Despite having a good realisation of what was going on, to see the almost proof of it gave him a visceral idea of the fate of the missing wolves.

"Okay then", said Stiles, "It looks like they have bi-monthly events, all in different places. If I apply for the next one, which is in two weeks' time, they vet me, I pay $1000 and then they tell me where it is. Do you want me to apply?"

"Yes", hissed Derek, "Apply for it". His apparent stillness would never give away the inner turmoil he was facing. This was it, this was the endgame and he was going to send a human in to do his job for him. He had no choice, he couldn't go himself, it was too dangerous. But that was the exact same danger he was sending Stiles into and Stiles seemed willing enough and it wasn't like they hadn't talked about this possibility. Ultimately what was killing Derek wasn't that he was sending in a human, it was the fact of sending _this_ human because, oh yes, he remembered what happened in the woods alright and he'd spent a decade wondering if there was any likelihood of it ever happening again.

A/N: Once again, my enormous gratitude to everyone who has expressed an interest in this fic. You'll be pleased to know that I do now know exactly where it's going, it may take some time though, I hope you find it worth it


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: This was extremely hard to write, that's why it took so long. I nearly split it into two but then I didn't. It's monster! Much longer than any of the other chapters but I hope, worth it.**

**Warning: Rating now firmly shoved into M territory for graphic violence and smut, oh yeah, vast paragraphs of dirty smut!**

**Disclaimer: Plot - mine, hot bods - not mine**

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><p>Stiles slipped between the constantly moving bodies crowding the edges of the large barn. He glanced to his left and caught sight of the focal point of the space: a large cage, maybe 15 foot square, the bars slightly rusty but solid looking. He made his way to the end of the barn where several men stood in front of chalk boards touting for business. He picked one at random.<p>

"$5oo on the large grey in fight 2." The man accepted his money with barely even a glance and handed a betting slip to him. He hadn't wanted to bet but Derek insisted.

"How is it going to look if you don't participate? The last thing you want to do is stand out." So he had reluctantly agreed to go through the motions.

Stiles was feeling slightly sick. It had something to do with the almost celebratory manner of the other attendees and a lot to do with his nervousness. He found a small space towards the back of the crowd and bought a beer from one of the vendors milling between the audience. He put it to his lips occasionally but didn't actually drink from it.

A door opened in the barn wall opposite him and the noise from the crowd increased considerably as those nearest saw the participants in the first fight being brought in. The gathered mob jeered and whooped as two chained figures were led through the short walkway to the cage which had been opened in readiness. Once the struggling bodies were pulled into the cage, their handlers removed the muzzles and chains and holding them at bay with stun batons left them at either end of the cage while they exited.

If Stiles craned his neck, he could just see the creature nearest him. From this distance it was almost too hard to make it out as a wolf but Stiles knew that it was one from the glimpses of raised paw and beige snout that he caught between the mess of people's heads. His beast – the one his end - was obviously petrified and backed against the bars of the cage as if it could push through them for escape. A snarling came from the other side and the handlers pushed their batons into the frightened creature to force it into the middle of the cage.

A dreadful cacophony erupted as the more predatory wolf advanced on the other one; this one was darker, nearly black and bigger than its rival. Although this was billed as a fight between two novices it was painfully obvious which one had the stronger survival instinct. Limbs with flashing claws slashed at flesh and bared fangs snapped at anything close to them. Stiles' wolf was being stalked round the cage in an ever more demented circle. Finally the dominant wolf lost patience and launched itself at the other, bringing it down with a vicious swipe of claw. Snarling in advance of administering a ripping bite, it held the light brown wolf down with its body weight. The captured wolf scrabbled desperately at the heavy form pinning it down, managing to get one of its paws under the body but not having the strength to push it away. As the snarling, dripping jaw approached, some adrenaline must have kicked in; a lucky confluence of positions enabled the smaller creature to twist under the dark wolf and upset its balance. The beige wolf lashed out with an upper paw and tore through the flesh of its opponent's neck. The dark wolf screamed in pain and tumbled to the floor. Without hesitation, the formerly submissive beast ripped through the injured wolf's throat, sharp fangs razoring the flesh to strips. Blood pumped out of its wounds as the last little kicks of life left it.

All throughout the short fight, the crowd had been yelling and stamping their feet, hitting bottles on the bars of the cage and making seemingly as much noise as they could. Until the death bite was administered and then the keening erupted into a sheer wall of noise. Stiles had tried to stay in character during the bout, copying those around him when they cheered and shouted. It was one of hardest things he'd ever had to do and he kept in his head snapshots from the stories Derek had told him.

Struggling to keep his gag reflex under control, he watched as the handlers re-entered the cage and tazered the victor. Dragging it out followed by the carcass of the loser which was now beginning to take on more human attributes: a lessening of fur and a more human body shape. Another handler entered the cage with a hose and began spray down the floor, letting the bloodied water run down the sides of the raised platform and into the earth below.

'I've got five more of these to get through ', thought Stiles with a rising dread creeping across his whole body. He eased back through the crowd and took a position at the back of the barn against the wall trying to be inconspicuous. It didn't work; a scrawny man leaned back next to him and said, "That was something, huh?"

"Uh, yeah", mumbled Stiles staring down into his beer. The man put out his right hand.

"Name's Bob, I don't think I've seen you here before."

Stiles put himself back in character and shook Bob's hand. "No, first time. I'm Jackson."

Bob nodded towards the cage, "What you were expecting?"

"Kind of, but man, you imagine one thing but the reality's ten times more in your face."

"What did you think it was gonna be, these are savage animals you know?"

"Well yeah", replied Stiles. "Where do they come from? I don't think I've seen anything like them before."

"Hell, you here for the fun or to ask questions? Bob leaned in to him and hissed, "They're not right, they're not God's creatures, let's just leave it at that." He pushed back, grinned and elbowed Stiles in the side. "C'mon, you need another beer." He waved at one of the beer vendors, bought two bottles and pushed one into Stiles' hand. "Which one do you fancy in the second?"

After that Bob stuck by Stiles for the better part of the night. The beer flowed smoothly and for that Stiles was grateful; it deadened the visceral horror of the situation and enabled him to participate in the awful cheerleading as if it didn't sicken his very soul. On the rare moments when Bob left him, the thing he wanted most, to speak to Derek, to get some confirmation of the need to do this was simply impossible. Not only would it have been a really stupid idea but the security staff had taken away cell phones and cameras at the entrance. All were ticketed and ready for pick up afterwards, the organisers wanted no photos getting out.

Stiles' random selection had won his bout and because of that Bob had seen him as some kind of oracle, getting him to pick winners for the rest of the fights and enthusiastically placing bets for both of them. In what Stiles considered to be a nasty piece of irony, he'd actually come out on top, choosing more winners than losers. He would have given all the money away rather than seem to profit by this ugly contest if he could but Derek had told him it was vital to be seen as fully participating.

Bob had casually quizzed him over the course of the evening, Stiles was under no illusion on that but it worked both ways. Between Stiles giving out snippets of a fictitious history, he managed to lay down some threads that he hoped would help ingratiate himself. He admitted to Bob that his interests lay more in the hunt than the contests but hey, you take what you can get. He thought he'd done pretty well. He didn't think he'd said anything suspicious and he thought he'd hidden his disgust at the vile enterprise sufficiently. It seemed to be good as Bob insisted on taking his number and extracting a promise from Stiles to hook up for the next event.

Stiles reclaimed his phone from security and did a whole buddy hug thing with Bob. The organisers had supplied transportation back to several local towns and to Stiles' relief, Bob was going to a different one than himself. That would have been quite awkward, not to mention potentially dangerous as Stiles had no doubt Bob would have insisted on carrying on with the party and Stiles could think of no reasonable excuse not to. He slunk on to his coach, grabbed a seat and rested his head against the window, watching his breath mist it up slightly and felt an immense relief that it was all – well, at least this part - nearly over.

During the hour long journey back to his destination Stiles frequently shut his eyes but opened them just as quickly as images from the evening plagued his mind. There was nothing to see in the darkness outside and while some of the other people on the coach insisted on continuing the night with more revelry, he chose to stay apart.

Stiles climbed down from the coach with all the others and made his way through the silent town three blocks north until he was certain he wasn't being followed then he hung a right and then a left to bring him to a small unlit parking lot. He walked determinedly into the shadows and got into a dark car waiting at the back.

"Well?" said a visibly anxious Derek, his dark hair all mussed up and a twitch in one of his hands gripping the steering wheel of the running car.

"Fuck, Derek, just fuck! Get me out of here", he demanded. With no hesitation Derek pulled smoothly out of the lot and towards the freeway. "Can't you go any faster?" implored Stiles.

"No, it would be foolish to attract attention at this point", Derek said through gritted teeth. Every bone in him, every hair on his body wanted to be away from this place instantly but his brain told him to take it slowly and avoid looking suspicious. He cast a glance at Stiles who was now sitting with his head down in his hands. "I'm sorry you had to go through it but you can't imagine how grateful I am that you did. You know I would have done it if I could."

"It was the most barbarous thing I've ever seen", said Stiles still keeping his head low. "And the worst thing, it wasn't the fighting; it was the carnal joy of the audience as they watched those helpless wolves rip each other apart."

Derek reached out his right hand and placed it between Stiles' shoulders just grazing his neck. "It's over now; you don't have to do it again."

Stiles pulled up to face Derek trapping Derek's hand between himself and the seat.

"But I'm gonna have to if I want to get in on the hunt." In the illumination of a street light, Derek could see how drawn Stiles was. He rubbed a couple of fingers against Stiles tense shoulders.

"We'll talk about it later; nothing has to be decided now. I'm not going to send you somewhere you don't want to go."

"I want more than anything to bring these bastards down. I want this to stop so no-one else has to die to satisfy someone's bloodlust. I'm not just doing this for you now Derek, I'm doing this to keep Scott safe and I'm doing it for myself."

Derek pulled his hand away as he negotiated the on-ramp to the freeway. Stiles was silent now and Derek considered the enormous toll it had taken on the human. He didn't think he could ever express his gratitude enough whether or not it was in his nature to do so. Frankly he was awed by Stiles willingness to throw himself completely into this situation which was not even his problem to begin with but Derek's burden only.

They'd taken a room at a motel at least another hour further out from the dropping off point and Derek let Stiles rest quietly as the rental car's wheels ate up the miles. Eventually He'd pulled up at the nondescript establishment, Stiles had fallen asleep. Derek gently nudged Stiles into consciousness. "C'mon, let's get inside and get some real rest."

"Yeah, we should", said Stiles following Derek out of the car. "I still need to tell you what happened, what I learned though."

"It can wait till tomorrow, you look like you need sleep now." Derek slid his keycard through the lock on the door of their room and pushed it open ushering Stiles inside first.

"What I need now is a shower, I want to wash all that filth off me." Stiles threw his jacket on one of the beds and headed into the bathroom. As Derek poured a couple of drinks, he heard the water being turned on. He shrugged off his jacket too and hung it up then took the drinks, placing one on the nightstand between the beds and sipping on the other as he sat down on the jacketless bed swinging his legs up while he waited for Stiles to metaphorically cleanse himself.

Since they'd teamed up those few weeks ago, Derek had felt his resolve crumbling. All those late nights spent planning for tonight had brought the pair of them so much closer together and seriously threatened his 'business with pleasure' pledge. Derek had to admit to himself a growing attraction to Stiles, one that had started way back in the woods a decade ago, one that had never been acted upon, except that single time. If he was being totally honest with himself, he reckoned that he should have done something about it at the time, that way he could have been over it now.

The trouble was that each time Stiles infectious enthusiasm got the better of him, it caught hold of Derek too. It made him want to sweep Stiles into his arms and to taste him again. The oddest things, a turn of a head or a gesture would make Derek want to suck at his neck or stroke his fingers down Stiles arm. Mostly he just ignored it; occasionally he gave in to the fantasy. He figured he had 10 minutes to indulge himself while Stiles showered so he leaned back against the headboard and shut his eyes.

"Hey!" Derek was jolted from his reverie, brought roughly out of his imaginings of covering Stiles' body with his own and running his hands down the length of it. He opened his eyes to see the object of his lust standing in the bathroom doorway, one towel slung low around his hips and rubbing his short hair dry with another. This was the first time Derek had actually seen Stiles' naked torso and given where his mind had just been, he couldn't help but stare at him. His eyes dilated as he took in the finely defined muscles running down towards the towel which was just barely staying put. Stiles wasn't wrong about frequenting the gym more these days.

"Hey, wake up! This for me?" Stiles indicated the glass on the nightstand. Derek nodded and swung his legs down to sit on the edge of the bed facing Stiles, he used the brief seconds to try and shut down his body's responses.

"Are you all right?" Derek asked as he inclined his head to look up at Stiles who had downed the contents of the glass in one.

"I will be" Stiles replied, "any more of this?" he tipped the glass towards Derek who got up to fetch the bottle from the table where he'd left it. While he did that, Stiles grabbed a pair of jogging bottoms from his bag and slipped them on. Derek caught a split second glimpse of Stiles' nude back in the mirror above the table. It was enough to get his cock twitching in his pants so he bit down sharply on his tongue to bring some measure of control back to himself.

Derek moved back between the two beds and refilled both their glasses. He sat down and waited for Stiles to join him, handing him a glass when he did. Stiles took another long slug and then looked Derek in the eye.

"You must have seen things like that before but I never have, even the things the Alpha did were nothing like it. It'll be a long time till I can forget what I saw tonight."

"Stiles, I'm sorry, I should never have asked you to get involved." Derek's protective instinct yearned to comfort him but he stayed still, nursing his glass between his hands.

"It's fine, I wanted to help, I knew what I was getting into but the whole fucking cruelty of it just makes me so angry." Derek could see the fury clouding Stiles' eyes. "I knew they were people in there getting killed. Everyone else thought they were animals but I knew they were people. I just wanted to stop it but I couldn't and I had to watch while it happened." Stiles slammed his empty glass down on the nightstand and his eyes flickered around the room. Derek could tell he was close to throwing or hitting something. The tension laid like a heavy blanket over them.

Derek leaned forward, closing the small gap between the two men and grasped Stiles' face between his hands bringing Stiles focus back on to him. Staring intently into Stiles angry brown eyes he said, "You're doing more than anyone could have asked of you. Everything we learn about them brings us closer to stopping them, it gets us nearer to saving one more wolf. I know it seemed like you were powerless there but you weren't, it just wasn't the right time for an attack. We will end this, I promise."

Stiles just stared straight back. Derek could sense him wrestling with his thoughts as he unconsciously stroked Stiles' cheeks with his thumbs. "It'll be alright", he reassured him.

"I know it will", replied Stiles, still looking deep into the wolfish eyes. With purpose Stiles brought his hands up to mirror Derek's and, in a reflection of his actions years ago, pulled the cruelly handsome face towards his until their lips met.

This kiss, however, was nothing like their first. There was nothing hesitant about Stiles this time, all the pent up anger from the night was released as he raked Derek's lips and tongue with his own. Derek, caught on the hop by Stiles' impulsiveness could only remain passive for a moment before he thrust back, joining in the kiss because, dammit, he wanted to.

Derek let Stiles lead the kiss, allowing him to dominate and then teasingly licking at his lips when the pace slowed. It was not something Derek was so used to but he kind of liked being the more submissive partner on this occasion. So, when Stiles pushed him back so he was lying on the bed, he let him, enjoying the sight of a demanding Stiles crawling over him.

Kneeling over Derek's thighs, Stiles reached down and pulled Derek's t-shirt off, throwing it somewhere into the recesses of the room. He looked down at his darkly tanned body and with both hands stroked him slowly from his neck down to the waistband of his pants. He licked his lips and bent down to cover Derek's mouth again. This time Stiles explored further, kissing along Derek's jaw and sucking on his neck before taking his teasing lips down his chest to encircle a nipple, biting gently on it.

Derek sighed, his arms now around Stiles', one hand tracing the contours of his shoulder blade and the other dipping below the waist of his joggers to caress his beautifully rounded butt. There was something in this giving up of control, of not knowing where Stiles' mouth and hands were going to touch him next. It made his body feel electric and it made his cock as hard as concrete.

Stiles licked back up to Derek's throat and nipped at the soft skin under his Adam's apple. Derek yelped in surprise but Stiles moved quickly up to kiss him ever more urgently. Urgency turned to a voracious hunger as Stiles devoured Derek, not pausing for a second as he moved from mouth to neck to shoulders, chest and back again, biting and sucking everywhere he could reach.

The burning want he was stirring up in the wolf part of Derek was starting to overcome the unusual passivity of the human part and Derek wanted to desperately get some kind of release. He reached down and grasped Stiles' ass with both hands, pulling him up to grind their cocks together. Stiles head jerked away from Derek's neck and he sucked in a groan at the contact. The suddenness of the action seemed to stun Stiles a little, he pushed up on his hands and looked down at the wantonly horny wolf as if in surprise. "What the hell is this?" he whispered as he rolled off Derek onto his side.

"This is whatever the hell you want it to be" replied Derek as he turned to face Stiles reaching for him to stop him retreating further.

"I can't…I've not done anything like this ever. I feel like I want to crawl into you but I don't know where this has come from."

Derek edged closer to Stiles until they were touching nose to toe again, he held him gently. "I think I do but tell me one thing first, does this feel good?"

"Oh God, yes! You have no idea how amazing it feels", admitted Stiles slowly stroking the dip where Derek's waist curved in. "You have the most beautiful body and I want to touch it all but I've never found another man attractive before and I don't know what to do."

"I'll show you, don't worry. First you have to take your pants off then I'll give you what you need."

Derek stood up and dropped his pants and boxers to the floor, he waited for Stiles copy him then he sat back on the bed and gestured for Stiles to do the same. Stiles slowly climbed back on the bed and edged between Derek's open legs, he was unable to take his eyes off the monster erection that was pointing straight at him.

0Derek leaned forward and ran his hands up Stiles' thighs. "This is all about you, we won't do anything you're not comfortable with." As Derek's hands grew ever closer, Stiles could feel his own cock straining out, aching to be touched. Derek didn't disappoint, taking hold of Stiles and encasing him in the warmth of his hands. Stiles felt his stomach drop away at the contact and a desperate need to thrust into the firmness of the grip. Derek humoured him for a minute or two but when Stiles' head fell back and he groaned out in pleasure, Derek took his hands away placing them back on Stiles thighs.

"You can't come yet, I have some other place for you to be before then. " Derek reached for Stiles and pulled him forward for a slow kiss, when he pulled away, he brought his right hand round to trace the contours of Stiles lips. Stiles' tongue slipped out and licked at the tips of Derek's fingers. "Yes, that's right, suck them for me", Derek whispered back at him. Stiles sucked two of Derek's fingers into his mouth and wrapped his tongue around them, teasing down the length.

"Now, watch me." Derek pulled his fingers away and slid his hand down his body towards his cock. Stiles knelt there, mouth agape, transfixed by the sight of his friend touching himself, running his palm over his own gently throbbing organ before inching down past his balls towards a place that Stiles had never found the slightest bit erotic….until today. As Derek slipped a single finger into himself, Stiles sighed heavily, realising what was to come but still immobile, unable to tear his eyes away from the wondrous sight before him.

Stiles was practically salivating as he watched Derek probe himself, adding his second finger and easing his body open in readiness for Stiles. He caught a flash out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see Derek watching him with the most lascivious expression, eyes flickering ice blue at him. He had never seen anyone so wanton and secure in their needs before and it made him want to fuck and be fucked, become an animal himself.

Derek broke the stare and looked down while he pulled his fingers out of himself. He swiftly bent forward and engulfed Stiles' twitching cock in his hot mouth, sucking it deep for an instant and coating it in saliva. Almost before Stiles had realised what was being done to him, Derek had stopped touching him and was now positioning himself so that his glistening hole was inches from Stiles' slowly pulsing cock.

Stiles stared at them both for a moment, unable to believe that he was about to thrust into this man but wanting so very much to do it. Derek perceived his hesitation and encouraged him, "Go ahead, I want you to. I want _you_."

Like a magnetic attraction, their bodies slowly came together until Stiles was right at the point of entrance, feeling the warm flesh on the tip of his dick, aching with the need to be inside. Slowly he pushed himself into Derek, gasping as he was encircled with a tightness and heat he had never experienced before.

"Oh God, that feels amazing, so good…" Stiles exclaimed as he bottomed out in Derek, his balls firmly pressed against Derek's body.

"Stiles….Stiles!" Derek demanded his attention, making him look up from their joining. When Derek had his focus he smirked up at Stiles and said in the sexiest voice, "You can fuck me now."

Like a tidal wave, huge waves of lust rolled over Stiles as he pulled out of Derek and thrust himself back in, again and again, his speed increasing as he lost himself in the sensation of pounding into a hot willing body. He fell forward onto his hands over Derek as his movements became more vigorous, barely aware of Derek's own hands on his hips, helping guide him. Every now and then a hiss would escape Derek's lips as Stiles would erratically hit a particularly sensitive spot inside him. The little sounds Derek made fuelled Stiles on. He was fucking like he'd never fucked before, reaming Derek who was taking it all and wanting more, now with one hand wrapped around his own needy flesh.

Stiles felt the sensation building low down in him, rushing through his senses. "Fuck, Derek, I'm coming", he just managed to pant before thrusting one last time into the glorious heat and shooting his cum into the depths of the body he'd just ravaged. Derek exhaled and let his own release shoot up over them both.

Stiles collapsed on Derek, entirely oblivious to the sticky mess coating them.

"That was a long time coming", observed Derek wryly.

Stiles couldn't reply immediately, after a minute he gasped out, "What do you mean?"

"Never mind", Derek said, gently pushing the dead weight of Stiles off him and heading into the bathroom, "I'll tell you tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow", said Stiles quietly but Derek still heard him.

"When you wake up. Here…" he threw a washcloth at Stiles. "Clean yourself up, we need some rest now."

Stiles rubbed the cloth around his chest while he watched a naked Derek stalk round the room picking stuff up. He could barely believe what he'd done to that gorgeous body and needed some confirmation that he hadn't imagined it.

"Will you sleep with me?" he quietly asked Derek.

"I thought I just did", Derek teased back at him

"No, will you hold me while we sleep? I want to touch you"

"Of course I will", smiled Derek as he slipped into the bed next to Stiles. He snuggled them both down, curving into Stiles body and holding him tight against his chest. He felt Stiles breathing slow and relax as he fell into drowsiness. After a minute he whispered into Stiles ear.

"You know I won't always bottom for you, you'll have to learn to take as well as give."

Stiles fell into a dreamless sleep as his mind ran through the ramifications of that.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I tried so hard to get some plot in here but it's all just smut. I'd be here to the middle of next week if I tried to get some plot in, so I figured - what the hell - post it as is, you can read it, or not… Seriously, if you're not into PWP you can just skip it; it probably won't make an impact on the storyline but, you know, I'd prefer that you didn't 'cause I kind of like it. I'm pretty sure it's this highly unseasonal heat wave we're having that's made me unable to process plot.**

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><p>Stiles woke up abruptly as he heard the sound of car doors slamming and the low babble of people talking several floors below the window. His mind jolted him back with memories of the events of the day before: The fight, Bob, meeting Derek in the car lot, the ride back to the motel, the enormous feeling of relief as he pounded into…<p>

'_Oh my God, I fucked Derek!_' he thought as his body went from pliant to tense in a split second. He checked out his position, he was lying face down on the bed, one leg almost hanging out, right arm under his pillow with his head resting on top of it facing the bathroom. Physical senses kicked in, his other foot was tangled up with Derek's and there was an arm curled around his body. As soon as he registered the presence of the arm, it began to move or at least the fingers on the hand at the end of the arm did, trailing softly across his stomach. This sent a curious pang of need to his belly and made his heart start racing.

'_OK, so he doesn't want to kill me, yet…._' One of the feet moved, drifting up his calf and back down in a languorous pattern. The arm pulled him back into the warmth of Derek's body, Stiles could feel Derek's chest against his back and his breath on his shoulder. Then he tensed even more as he became aware of a heat pressing into his buttocks that could only be one thing: one hard insistent thing.

"Turn over", whispered Derek into his ear, making the rest of Stiles' body shudder with want. He moved to comply but only as a cover to his confusion. As he shifted around, he finally opened his eyes to find a bed-headed Derek smiling down at him.

"Morning!", Derek said and leaned in to gently kiss Stiles. Just the simplest touch of lips on lips but enough to make Stiles want to return the kiss…and more. Stiles couldn't help himself; he reached up and trapped Derek's bottom lip between his own for a moment. Derek kissed him again and again, moving his lips against Stiles' skin, along his jaw, up to his ear and then slowly down his neck, sucking softly on the warm inviting flesh.

All Stiles could see was the mussed up dark hair of Derek and his broad muscular shoulders. It was the wrong thing to look at if he wanted these feelings to go away. He didn't, so he traced the lines of Derek's back with his eyes and watched Derek's hair stir at every breath he exhaled. Derek licked up from Stiles chest, over his throat and across his chin and Stiles groaned with pleasure.

"Kiss me", he implored and reached up to pull Derek in to him. Now that their closeness allowed it, he let his hands wander over Derek's back, drawing random figures against the skin and bone that slowly shifted under his fingers. It was a landscape of promises and Stiles could have spent hours just tracing each inch had Derek not been insistently swiping his tongue across Stiles' lips. He succumbed to the press of Derek's tongue and opened his mouth to allow the wolf what he wanted. There was no dominance in Stiles now; the anger that had fuelled the previous night's intensity had dissipated. Stiles kissed Derek back, luxuriating in the sensation of their bodies touching in so many different places, each one sharp and different in Stiles' mind.

With obvious reluctance Derek pulled away, looking down at Stiles with a grin on his face and lust in his eyes.

"Why'd you stop?" Stiles complained, his tone needier than he really wanted it to appear. Derek laughed.

"Something better." He cocked an eyebrow and slid down Stiles' body until he was cradled between his thighs. He laid his hands on Stiles hips, met his eyes and moistened his own lips with his tongue. The expression Derek saw of utter desire on Stiles' face caused his wolf to emerge and turned his eyes a cold penetrating blue. He dipped his head and slowly took the tip of Stiles' cock in his mouth. Stiles let his eyes drift shut as he lost himself in the touch. It wasn't that he hadn't had blow jobs before; he'd never had one like this though. The pleasure which Derek was taking from laving his tongue around the sensitive head was a million miles away from the perfunctory efforts made by the few girls who had been there before. Stiles' urges intensified and he thrust up into Derek's mouth slightly. Derek swiped his tongue right across the end of Stiles cock and swallowed him down almost completely.

With his hands holding down Stiles hips to prevent him from lunging too much, Derek continued to envelop Stiles in his satiny hot mouth. Moving smoothly up and down his length, Derek sucked Stiles into oblivion, wrapping his tongue round the shaft on the upstrokes and plunging down again when he was almost at the point of letting it slip from his mouth. Stiles' couldn't take the delicious torture and fought to thrust upwards for release but Derek wasn't ready for that yet. He licked up Stiles' cock one final time and then released it to slap heavily against Stiles stomach.

"Fuck, Derek, don't stop!" pleaded Stiles, fraught with the loss of the stimulation. Derek just bent his head lower and ran his tongue over Stiles' balls, sucking one into his mouth and then the other, probing them with the tip of his tongue. Stiles couldn't believe the intensity of the sensation and, wanting so badly to come, urged Derek on. "Please, suck me…more. Fuck, I love you sucking me, I love your mouth on me…" Derek still wasn't ready to let Stiles come; he wanted him completely undone beneath him before that was going to happen. With the same careless abandon he'd exhibited moments before, he released Stiles' balls, slowly licking down between them and on further until his tongue reached the virgin part of Stiles.

Stiles gasped as he felt Derek slide around his threshold; this was an altogether new experience. He tensed a bit from the unaccustomed attention. Derek slipped his right hand from Stiles' hip across to stroke his cock, the petting drawing Stiles' focus, relaxing him again. The ministrations of Derek's tongue never ceased though and as he licked the puckered skin Stiles began to enjoy the sensation. When Derek's tongue pressed a little harder, Stiles breathily begged him for more.

With a hand wrapped round his cock and a tongue inside him, Stiles gave in to his needs and thrust wildly, trying to keep his dick enveloped in the warm caress while impaling himself upon Derek. Inarticulate cries escaped him as sense fled and visceral pleasure took over. Stiles felt the mother of all orgasms uncurl from deep within him and rush outwards. He could feel it from one end of his body to the other as he spasmed violently and shot long streams of cum out, the glistening threads arcing through Derek's fingers to land indiscriminately across his body and the bed.

When Stiles could finally open his eyes, he looked over at Derek who had repositioned himself alongside Stiles. "When I woke up, I thought it was a dream; I thought I'd imagined last night, everything that happened between us…"

"No dream", replied Derek, lightly stroking Stiles' chest, "just something you needed to do."

Stiles reached for the hand that caressed him and locked his fingers with it. He brought both their hands up to his lips and kissed Derek's, running his tongue along the fingers. "I think now I have something I need to do for you."

"Hey, you don't _have_ to do anything. I told you last night, if you're not comfortable with anything, it's fine, we can go at whatever pace you're happy with."

Stiles rolled over to face Derek. "I'm happy, amazingly I'm very happy and now I want to see you like you just saw me."

"OK then but wipe yourself down first, you're filthy." Derek reached down for the washcloth and lobbed it up at Stiles.

"You think I'm filthy now? Try me in a few minutes", grinned Stiles as he wiped away his drying cum. He looked down at the man who shared his bed taking in the magnificently defined torso and slim waist. His eyes drawn lower until he rested them on the growing erection nestling between Derek's legs and half hidden by the bed sheet.

"Why me?" He whispered to himself, forgetting that Derek would be able to hear him.

"Because this was always there, something left undone", answered Derek quietly.

Stiles drifted his hand down Derek's body. "I have so many questions, I don't know where to begin."

"With the questions or with this?" Derek teased.

"Both", admitted Stiles, running his hand over Derek's chest, feeling his nipple engorge at the gentle stroking. "But I think I want to start here." He bent his head forward and licked over the nipple, sensing with his tongue as it hardened under his attention. He sucked it into his mouth and pulled it between his teeth, biting none too gently on it. Derek hissed and shuddered under him.

As Stiles moved his mouth across Derek's chest searching for his other nipple, Derek reached around to hold Stiles to him. Stiles could feel the tips of Derek's fingers drawing slow lines around his back. He found the other nipple and circled it with his tongue, blowing on it.

"More….harder", ordered Derek. "Bite me."

Stiles obliged, biting down on the proof of arousal almost too hard. Derek tensed and Stiles could feel little points of sharpness digging into his back. His teeth released their prisoner and he licked gently across it before sucking and biting it again.

Derek pulled Stiles up roughly so he could kiss him. Their kiss was rough as well, deep and forceful and when they parted, teeth nipped at lips. Stiles could feel the scratches on his back from Derek's nascent claws and paused to take in the wolfish expression on the man's face.

"Are you going to change on me?" he asked as he watched Derek's eyes flicker alternately bright then darker like a dying light bulb.

"No, but you gotta know, the wolf is the sensual part of me, it's always there when I get turned on. I would never hurt you, believe me."

"I believe you", said Stiles running his hands down Derek's torso and turning his body to follow the path his hands made. He watched the twitching erection wondering how it was that before this weekend he'd never had the slightest interest in another man's cock but now all he wanted to do was worship this one. He'd reached it now and carefully he slid a finger up its length, tracing the veins until he reached the head. Stiles ran his finger around the rim and gently over the top eliciting a groan from Derek. He measured how the skin was underneath his touch; how firm, smooth and hot it was and how different the sensation was to anything else he'd experienced. He stroked this wondrous thing and felt it grow and move in his hand and he found himself amazed that he was the source of the arousal.

'_How does this work'_, he thought to himself. '_I'll never know if I don't try_.' So he bobbed his head down slowly until he could smell the musky aroma of Derek's excitement. Tentatively he poked out his tongue and touched it to the head of the throbbing cock. Satisfied with his bravery, he did it again….and again. He darted round the rim in quick licks and then lingeringly dragged his tongue down the shaft, tasting the flesh he'd just caressed, noting the difference between the head with its spread of pre-cum and the base. Derek sighed and reached forward to hold onto any bit of Stiles he could find.

Gaining confidence with every second spent revelling in these new experiences, Stiles sucked his way back up Derek's dick and took the tip of it into his mouth. Holding it there he ran his tongue over everywhere he could reach, letting instinct guide him. The taste was slightly bitter and the flesh was burning hot to his tongue. He wanted more so he scrabbled a bit closer, flung one hand over Derek's abdomen to steady himself and took hold of the base of his cock with his other. Very slowly he took more and more of it into his mouth until he had no idea what else to do, so he suckled at it.

Derek gasped and arched his back, his action pushing himself further into Stiles' hot sweet mouth. Stiles almost gagged but Derek had a hold of his neck and refused to let him pull away. "Suck me, baby, suck me hard, suck me down, make me yours." Stiles felt all reality slip away at Derek's words, the world reduced to one motel room and the activities occurring within it. Feeling Derek squirm and writhe beneath him gave him an unused to sense of power. If he could make Derek this abandoned by just holding him in his mouth, what could he do to him if he tried a bit more?

Stiles sucked…hard, he held Derek firmly in his hand like a trophy and guided his prize in and out of his mouth. He may not have had wolf hearing but he could certainly distinguish between the sound of Derek hissing as he sucked up his cock and sighing as he pushed downwards, enveloping it again. As Stiles' own cock hardened, he wondered what sort of a twisted world it was where he could get so damn horny giving a blow job to another man, a wolf, no less. It was twisted but it was wonderful too. Stiles played with Derek, speeding up his movements, dragging his teeth against the rigid shaft, starting to understand that too much could never be enough. Knowing he was right from the sounds uttered by Derek and the way Derek was gripping at his shoulders, claws piercing skin.

Stiles thought the friction between them might set them both on fire. He had no idea when he'd been able to take Derek in fully but there he was now with the man's cock buried deep into his throat and he was loving it. Loving the power he had over a more dominant creature and loving the sensations of the two of them coming together in an animalistic rut. He felt Derek thrust wildly at him, his cock pulsing under Stiles' lips and suddenly Derek's hips stopped but his cock didn't. With an almighty effort, Derek strove to push into Stiles as far as he could go and he let out two things: a hot stream of cum straight down the back of Stiles' throat and a cry that was more of a howl.

Derek dropped away from Stiles as his climax ebbed, slipping from Stiles mouth. This was a good thing because Stiles was trying to hold onto every last dribble of Derek's cum, swallowing it down and marvelling as it burnt his throat slightly. He fell back on the bed and unconsciously palmed his erection, needing a release himself. He barely needed a touch before he was shooting his own cum out, though there was no willing orifice there to catch it.

They both lay sated and panting but Derek recovered first, he stretched an arm out to his lover and it glanced against Stiles' belly, sticky with cum. As Stiles had tasted him, now he wanted to know how Stiles tasted so he bent over and carefully licked up all the remains of Stiles' emissions. It tasted like sunshine on a cloudy day, it tasted like nectar and most of all, it tasted like raw sex. Derek suddenly remembered how raw it had been. He lifted himself up and tried to push Stiles over on to his front. Stiles' lethargy was winning. "Roll over", he told him.

"Why?" whined a torpid Stiles.

"Just do it", replied Derek, pushing at Stiles side like an annoying child. With every sigh and grunt designed to inform exactly how much of a nuisance this was, Stiles turned over and flopped face down on his front. Now Derek could see the result of letting his wolf dominate their coupling. Scratches criss-crossed Stiles shoulders and upper back, pin pricks of blood oozed from the imprints of claws. He traced some of the marks gently and leaned over to kiss and soothe them.

"I'm sorry", he whispered into Stiles' back

"What for?" mumbled Stiles, face deep in the pillow and words muffled.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, I promised I wouldn't." Derek kissed down one particularly long scrape. Stiles flung himself back over and looked Derek deep in the eyes.

"You didn't hurt me, I wanted it, I wanted to feel your lust, it excited me." Stiles grinned at Derek like he knew a secret Derek didn't. "And…you called me _baby_!"

This time Derek won. With a firm shove, he pushed Stiles out of the bed and towards the bathroom. "You can be sure that won't happen again", he said firmly, "Unless you get yourself in and out of that shower pretty damn quick. We need to get on the road."

* * *

><p><strong>AN 2: In my other life I'm a huge Progressive Rock fan, (go look it up, kids!) I've inserted into this fic, a little prog rock joke, just a tiny thing that made me titter. If anyone spots it, I'll be mightily impressed**

**Since I'm here I'd just like to give a shout out to two things that enable me concentrate enough to write. 1.) Post Rock, especially the music of Explosions In The Sky, Mono and Red Sparowes. 2.) The sound of those bands coming through my noise cancelling headphones. **

**If it wasn't for those things I wouldn't be able to block out the never ending stream of teen coming through the house and sitting down just long enough to kill things on ridiculous video games. If they had any inkling of what I am doing while they wreak carnage on pixelated worlds, they'd never set foot in the house again. I am suitably amused by this.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Haven't you got any decent music in this car?" grumbled Stiles as he rifled through Derek's meagre CD collection for the umpteenth time, most of which they'd already listened to on the drive up.

"I mean, Nickelback, c'mon….and I can't listen to any more of that Nightwish, the woman sounds like a dying cat. "

"Well it's that or silence and we've got another five hours to go so you choose," responded Derek who didn't really care what Stiles played as long as he played something. Five hours of freeway was going to get boring pretty quickly without some kind of distraction. "Or you could, you know, talk to me."

Stiles flung the CD case back into the glove compartment. "If I'd known you didn't have an iPod adapter I would've brought mine." Thoughts of all the music on his useless iPod flitted through his mind. "I'd love to hear some Decemberists right now." For the third time he pushed the Tool CD back into the machine. This was about the only disc he could bear to listen to, he slumped back in his seat as the rhythmic riffage pounded round the car's interior.

Derek let it go for a couple of songs but even he was starting to get sick of the same music, he reached across and turned the volume down. "How about you tell me some more about last night", he said gently. "Did you get any idea of numbers, how many there were?"

Stiles had been doing a great job of pushing the details to the back of his mind but he understood that he had to go over it all and give Derek as much information as he could. "Okay then", he sighed, "they were pretty well organised and security was heavy. They took our phones away and searched everyone going in. We were restricted to this barn where the cages were set up, you couldn't go wandering around. I guess I saw about 20 people in all but I couldn't tell who was in charge and I reckon they also had a few more outside."

"That makes sense", said Derek, "were they armed?"

"I think so but it wasn't obvious. Well apart from the tasers they used on the wolves. Fuck, that was horrible! I'm pretty sure they wouldn't hesitate to use one on a human either. I was so scared, I thought that any minute I'd say or do something to give myself away." Stiles shivered with the recollection, turning his head to stare impassively out of the window at the unchanging scenery.

"But you didn't", replied Derek, "you did good." He reached over and rubbed Stiles' leg reassuringly. Without moving his gaze, Stiles' hand sought Derek's and linked their fingers.

"I suppose so", he admitted.

"Did anyone stand out?" asked Derek.

"Well there was this one guy, Bob. He kind of stuck to me most of the night. I got the feeling he was checking me out. He was very friendly, too friendly, if you know what I mean. He insisted on swapping numbers so we could meet up next time."

"That could be useful", said Derek. "Why don't you tell me as much as you can remember from the start?" He gave Stiles hand a squeeze.

For the next hour or so Stiles recounted his experiences as best he could, trying to imbue his tale with as much detail as he could recall. When he got to describing the fights, tears quietly slipped down his cheeks. When one fell on Derek's hand, he broke contact and reached up to stroke them away from his lover's skin. Stiles pressed his face into Derek's touch, needing some contact to buffer himself against the awful words spilling from his mouth.

Eventually the words dried up as he realised there was nothing more he could think of to tell. They had covered over half of their journey home so Derek pulled off the freeway and they stopped at a diner to grab some food.

As Stiles took a bite into his burger he was reminded of something Derek had said the previous night. He fixed Derek with a quizzical look. "You said this…we…were a long time coming. What did you mean?"

"Ah", said Derek reluctantly, "I'm not sure we should discuss this here." He nodded his head in the directions of the other patrons. "I don't know what you're reaction might be."

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Stiles. "Tell me right now", he demanded, "if you're shy of telling me, it's gotta be good!"

Derek's eyes searched out Stiles', he fixed him with a stern stare and Stiles could swear he saw the wolf flicker across Derek's face along with the shimmering of his eyes. "No", said Derek quietly but firmly.

"Okay then but you tell me when we're back on the road." Stiles chewed on another piece of his meal. "I'm not scared of you when you go all wolfy, you know." He munched some more, "but I respect your judgement so I'll wait."

Back in the car, they'd not gone 5 minutes when Stiles said, "so?"

Derek pretended he misunderstood, "what?"

"Long time coming, explain…"

Derek attempted some damage limitation. "Alright but you must understand, I did what I did in your best interests at the time."

"Oh, this just gets better and better." Stiles eyes were wide and he was actually starting make Derek uncomfortable under his gaze.

Derek took a deep breath, "You remember that one time when Scott was training and then you kind of lost your memory?"

"Uh-huh", confirmed Stiles. "You told me I tripped and hit my head. I could only remember going out into the woods with you both and then nothing till I came round at your house." Stiles cast his mind back to that memory. He squinted, he'd often felt there was something more to it all but Derek had been insistent that it had been his clumsiness that was responsible and Scott had oddly missed the incident, saying that he'd got back to Derek's house and Stiles was out cold. "What happened? The truth now please."

"The Argents were after us, we had to split up and run. I tried to distract them but you went in the wrong direction. You were heading straight for them so I had to pull you down quickly."

"So you knocked my head, it was your fault!" Stiles looked triumphant then suddenly puzzled. "I don't get the long time coming thing."

"No, I didn't knock you out although God knows, there were many times back then when I wished I had." Derek felt himself uncharacteristically blushing slightly, how to explain what had happened without making Stiles mad. He plunged onward thinking it was best to get this over with.

"We were very close; we had to stay motionless until the Argents had gone. You got a bit, um, excited and I'm afraid I teased you a little. You kissed me; you told me you'd always wanted to do that."

"Oh. My. God! I kissed you, what was it like?"

Derek smiled, "it was good, for all that you didn't know what you were doing. I would have liked more but I knew I couldn't allow that, you were just a kid and it was far too dangerous for you. I told you it was a mistake and you weren't very happy with me."

"So, what, did you do some kind of lycan ju-ju on me to make me forget?"

"No", laughed Derek, "nothing like that. You really did fall and hit your head, we were just heading back to my house when it happened. I had no idea how I was going to deal with the situation, you were quite keen as I recall. It was actually the one time when your inability to control your own body came in handy. I had to carry you back to the house, it was the last and only time I held you until yesterday."

Stiles felt a rush of remembered sensations flood him. "I did, I had such a crush on you, I don't know why and I never told anyone. You were so strong and I'd never seen a body like yours before, at least not in real life. Every time you pushed me I got so turned on. I figured it was just a teenage thing cos no-one else ever affected me like that. You're right, I would have wanted to kiss you, I can't believe I actually found the courage to do it."

"It was quite tense there, it seemed like it was out of a sense of relief."

"And you never told me, you chose to keep it from me? Even though it must have been one of the defining moments of my life. How different would it all have been if you had told me?" There was a hurt tone to Stiles' voice. "Didn't you like me?"

"You don't get it", said Derek, hoping he could make Stiles understand. "You would have been a target too. It was because I liked you, I couldn't do it. If we had, what would have happened? In a few months I'd have been gone anyway and if I'd formed an attachment to you, it would've been ten times worse."

"My head says it understands but my heart can't believe you turned me away. I need to process this." Stiles turned and part curled up facing outside. It was growing dark now and there was little to see apart from the occasional town lit up in the distance.

"Listen, I've seen before what happens to wolven mates if they're human and their mate comes under attack. Humans just aren't as fast, they don't have the senses and the hunters will use this. They'll trap a mate to draw the wolf out and it usually doesn't end prettily. Do you think I wanted that for you?"

"Is that what I am then, your mate?" Stiles' disembodied voice quietly broke a short silence.

"Is that what you want to be?" countered Derek.

"Yes", whispered Stiles, "I want that more than anything."

"Then you are."

Stiles turned to face Derek. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. Although how you can say_ just_ after last night and this morning is beyond me."

Stiles scooted over as far as he could towards Derek and laid his head on Derek's shoulder. "I think I forgive you for not telling me we kissed. I'm still a bit cross that you didn't but I understand why at least. Promise you won't do that to me again."

Derek reached for his mate and pulled him closer. "I promise." He said solemnly.

They stayed that way for a long time. Stiles shut his eyes and let the miles slide under the car's wheels. As they approached the city Derek gently pushed him back into his own seat. Finally Derek pulled up in the parking lot behind Stiles' apartment. Stiles stretched out, releasing the kinks in his limbs.

"Are you coming in?" he asked Derek, still unsure of the nuances of this new relationship.

"Yes, I'll come in, if you want me to."

"Of course I do", grinned Stiles feeling more confident suddenly. "You wouldn't be much of a mate if you didn't!" He leant over to peck Derek quickly on the lips.

That night they fell asleep almost immediately, the day's travelling having tired them both out. Stiles woke up sometime in the night. Realising he was still curled in Derek's embrace, he snuggled a little closer in and fell back asleep holding fast to his lover. "My mate", he mumbled softly.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days Stiles worked hard to document every useful piece of information he could recall about the fights. Derek would more often than not be out in the evening doing things that he didn't talk about to Stiles and in return Stiles didn't ask. He always came home to Stiles though, even if he'd given in and fallen asleep by that point. Derek soon found it was one of the rare pleasures in life, to come in from a reconnaissance or a training session and wrap his body around a warm and sleeping Stiles. Usually he would awaken and turn and face his lover, kissing him insistently until they made love in the dark.<p>

Just over a week later, on one of the nights when Derek arrived early and stayed, he and Stiles were staring at a map trying to work out where exactly the fights had taken place. Stiles had tried really hard at the time to get a sense of the direction they were travelling in for this very purpose. They'd narrowed it down to a target area but beyond that, Stiles couldn't be certain.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket just before it burst into an irritating ringtone. He grabbed at it quickly, glancing at the display as he answered it. "It's Allison", he mouthed at Derek. "Hey Allison, what's up?"

Derek could hear Allison's tone if not her actual words as she spoke heatedly with Stiles. She sounded stressed and upset.

"Hey, slow down", Stiles told her. "Tell me what's happened." Stiles listened for a moment then turned to Derek with a worried look. He put his hand over the mouthpiece and said quickly, "Scott's disappeared."

* * *

><p><strong>AN - I'm sorry that took a bit of time, life you know...Last weekend I was away with friends of mine who play in a band. This weekend I should have been with them again in Holland for a big double celebration gig but I couldn't go cos I'm too poor. So I thought I'd channel my energies into something constructive. My loss is your gain, hope you liked it.**


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. I've been nudged a little on this and rightly so. Now I'm back to it and I have the whole of Xmas and the New Year off and nothing much to do, oh except pack to move house, however I'm determined to crack it so expect more regular updates. I'm not saying I won't slip a little one-shot in somewhere -phnarr! - but I really want to get this sucker going again.

This is somewhat of a transitional chapter as I ease myself back into the right mindframe, sorry not a lot happens but it will, it will...

* * *

><p>It took a little while for Stiles to get the details from Allison. Between her sobs she was barely coherent but eventually Stiles prised from her what had happened. Nothing out of the ordinary except that yesterday morning, when Scott had gone out for his usual morning run, he'd failed to return. Knowing how much he was a creature of habit, Allison had called the Sheriff by lunchtime. A broad search had turned up nothing and the police department were preparing to do a more thorough search the next day.<p>

"OK", said Stiles, "We'll be there tomorrow".

"We?" asked Allison

"Yes, Derek's here", stated Stiles matter-of-factly.

"Derek?" parroted Allison.

"It's a long story, you'll understand when we see you. I'll explain everything, I promise."

"OK, just get here quickly, we need you."

"We will, and Allison…everything's going to be alright, believe that."

Stiles cut the call and turned to Derek. "It can't be coincidence; Scott would never just disappear like that. What if the Hunters have him?"

"Then we'll get him back", said Derek simply. "We'll have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow, let's pack bags tonight and get an early night." Since Derek had taken to spending most nights at Stiles, he'd also started to leave various things there too. This hadn't gone un-noticed by Stiles who was secretly chuffed to pieces that Derek would treat his apartment like home.

"I'd better speak to my Dad as well. We're going to have to stay there. He won't understand if I don't, is that OK?" Stiles looked at Derek anxiously.

"Stiles, we'll do whatever you want. Are you going to tell him about us? "

"I think I want to but I have no idea what he'll make of it. He didn't like you much back then."

"That was ten years ago, there's been a lot of water under the bridge since then but it's your choice…for now. You'll have to tell him some time, you know."

Stiles called his father, he listened while the Sherriff told him what had been done and what was going to happen next and then at the end he said, "Dad, there's something else I have to tell you and I want to do it now so you're not surprised tomorrow."

"What is it, son?" asked his father.

"When I come back, I'm bringing my partner with me."

"That's alright, you're an adult now, I'm sure you and she can squeeze into your old room just fine."

"There's the thing", Stiles told his father stiltedly. "It's not a she, it's a he."

"Okay…" said the Sherriff, "as long as you're happy, I won't judge."

"I am happy Dad, he makes me very happy but there's one more thing you should know, remember before I left, all that trouble?"

"Yes", said his father hesitantly.

"Remember Derek Hale, you thought he was a murderer but he wasn't. Well we met again and…..uh….it's him, he's my boyfriend." Stiles grimaced as he waited for his father's reply.

"Oh…I see….Stiles I will never understand you but right now I have more urgent things to worry about, I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Bye Dad."

"How did he take it?" enquired Derek.

"To be honest, I have no idea, I guess we'll have to see tomorrow when we get there."

Derek took Stiles in his arms and embraced him. "Your father's a good man; he'll want what's right for you."

"I hope so. You are, you know…" murmured Stiles into Derek's shoulder.

"What?" asked Derek.

"Right for me, I've never felt anything more right about my life, ever."

Derek took Stiles chin in his hand and guided their lips together. He kissed Stiles softly. "I know", he said.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The alarm went off unreasonably early the next morning. Stiles slapped it off and snuggled back for a few moments. For once he'd woken with Derek in his arms instead of the other way round as was usual. He hugged the warm body curled into his and felt the stirrings of arousal low in his belly.

"God, I want to fuck you but I know we don't have time", admitted Stiles but he didn't move or slacken his embrace, the contours of Derek's abs smooth beneath his fingers.

"Me too and maybe we do, c'mon…" Derek grabbed Stiles hand and pulled him out of bed and into the bathroom; he pushed Stiles into the cubicle and climbed in behind him. Derek turned the shower on sending a stream of tepid water over their heads. Stiles hissed as the coldness hit his shoulders and back. Derek reached for the shower gel and squeezed some into his hands. As they waited for the water to reach full heat Derek massaged Stiles' torso rubbing him down with the citrusy gel.

"Mmmm", crooned Stiles as he pushed back into Derek's hands, "Are you going to rub me everywhere?"

"Maybe…but I was thinking of one particular place" answered Derek as he reached lower to Stiles' pert ass. He smoothed his hands over the twin cheeks, soaping them up even as the water rinsed the foam away. Derek ran his fingers through the cleft and teased over the twitching hole, slipping his hand through Stiles' leg to cup his balls.

"Ahhh", gasped Stiles as the sensation kicked in. "Let me wash you too". He turned around to face Derek admiring the way that even through the steam, the pattern of water running down Derek's body was mesmerising. He wasn't nearly so concerned with cleanliness as Derek, using the pretence of washing to touch and stroke his lover's skin. He mouthed at Derek's neck as his hands travelled down to clasp around that wonderfully hard erection poking at his thigh. Using the lubrication of the last of the shower gel to run firm strokes up and down it, he ran his free hand round his body and into his own orifice.

From his vantage point, looking over Stiles' shoulder, the wet pink digits sliding in and out of Stiles' ass seemed to be taunting Derek. It was early and although the human part of him was still sleepy, the tempting sight below had woken the wolf up fully; control was the last thing on Derek's mind. He growled a low sound and turned Stiles roughly to face the wall. With no hesitation he took hold of his cock with one hand, slapped Stiles' hand away with the other and penetrated him totally in one swift movement. Stiles stiffened at the sudden intrusion but relaxed quickly as the onrush of feelings flooded through him.

Derek pressed down on Stiles shoulders, forcing him to bend over slightly as Derek pumped in and out of him, hips thrusting forward in a hypnotic rhythm. Stiles could feel the water pouring over them and through it wolfen claws pricking at his skin and it turned him on even more. He angled his body further down so that Derek's cock could brush against his prostate and between gasps he urged Derek on.

C'mon Derek, fuck me hard, I know your wolf wants me, I know _you_ want me."

Stiles palmed his own cock, eager to maximise his arousal as Derek covered his body, leaning down over him to run his teeth and tongue across the nape of Stiles' neck without breaking the rhythm.

"More, more….give it to me", pleaded Stiles knowing how much this was exciting Derek. He had proof of this when Derek bit down hard on his neck as his thrusts became harder but more erratic. The teeth had turned to fangs and broke through his tender skin but the slight points of pain were nothing more than a spur to Stiles who thrust back equally as enthusiastically.

"Do you want to come inside me, Derek, do you?" he huffed out between lunges. "I know I want to feel you come deep in me, spurting into me, give it to me Derek, give me what I want!"

Derek lifted his head up into the rain of water, eyes closed with the stream cascading over him. His mouth opened in a silent howl while he emptied himself inside his willing partner. As he felt Derek's orgasm erupt within him, Stiles quickened the strokes on his needy flesh and spurted his own release against the wall.

Both of them slumped down gasping for air. Stiles with his hands on his knees, bent double and Derek splayed over his back. The wolf sensed the tiny trickles of blood that ran down Stiles' back turning the water a faint pink. Satisfied in its lust, it only needed to comfort now and Derek stretched up to lick over the small wounds, healing them as Stiles heaved beneath him.

Moments passed, moments where everything and nothing happened. Stiles straightened up forcing Derek to move with him. Even as Stiles nuzzled back for more succour he said, "I think we need to get going." He knew that the next few days would challenge and try them and he knew that there were unlikely to be moments like this until it was all over.

Silently they rewashed themselves and performed the agile dance of getting dressed around each other. That completed it was only left for them to pick up their bags and leave.

"Ready?" asked Derek.

"Ready", confirmed Stiles but Derek could see the worry in his eyes.

"We won't know exactly how it is until we get there but I'll tell you this, whatever's happened, we'll fix it because, you and me, we're unbeatable." Derek wrapped his loose arm around Stiles and kissed him softly on the temple. "C'mon, let's go…"


	10. Chapter 10

Seven hours of freeway later, Derek's Camaro pulled up in a familiar spot outside the Stilinsky residence. Stiles seemed reluctant to get out of the car so Derek cast his eye over the house he'd not seen for ten years. There were very few changes to observe, some of the paint had been refreshed and at some point the driveway had been re-laid. Other than that, the tree that grew next to Stiles' old bedroom window was taller and fuller and - Derek wryly observed - would make for even easier access to the room. He turned back to Stiles, taking in his anxious demeanour. For reassurance he folded his hand over Stiles' fingers which had been picking listlessly at a loose thread.

"Let's go in, it's gotta be better than waiting out here", he said quietly while gently squeezing Stiles' hand.

"Yeah, you're right." Stiles sighed but nevertheless made to get out of the car. His Dad's cruiser wasn't in the drive so he knew the awkwardness of the reunion was postponed for a little while longer. He didn't know whether he was relieved about that or not. Derek fetched their bags from the trunk and followed Stiles into the house.

It had even been a couple of years since Stiles had been back home so he was also looking out for things that his Dad may have changed in the meantime. He walked into the kitchen as Derek dropped their bags in the hallway. On the big kitchen table in the middle of the room he saw two coffee mugs and a note tucked under them. One of the mugs was his old mug that he'd always used and the other was new but similar. Stiles picked up his Dad's message and read it.

_Welcome home son, there's some coffee on for you but it may be a bit stale by the time you get here. We will be searching until it gets dark. I don't know where we'll be so please don't try and find us, you've had a long trip and you'll need some rest. I'll update you when I get in. Make yourselves at home and I look forward to seeing you both soon._

_Dad_

Stiles handed the note wordlessly to Derek as he picked up the mugs and started to fill them with the very stewed coffee.

"That doesn't sound so bad", offered Derek.

"No", replied Stiles, handing a warm mug to Derek. "I suppose not but I would imagine his priority is finding Scott, I'm sure he'll have loads to say when it's over."

"Well then let's follow his example and worry about what he thinks later." Derek sat down at the table indicating to Stiles to do likewise.

"I'll just text him and let him know we're here." Stiles reached for his phone and sent a quick message. When he'd finished, instead of putting it down or away, he tossed it between his hands. "I think I'll phone Allison too, see if there's any news..."

Stiles found Allison's number and hit send. The ring tone went on for so long, he was on the brink of hanging up when Allison answered.

"Hey", she said, "You made it?"

"Yeah, we just got in, any news?"

"No, we've been out in the woods all day but we haven't found a thing, they're bringing the dogs in tomorrow. Oh Stiles, I'm so worried, what if we don't find him?" Stiles could hear the catch in her voice and how close she was to breaking down completely.

"We'll find him, I know we will, he wouldn't want to be away from you any longer than he has to. When will you be home, we'll come over?"

"They're starting to bring the search teams back now so I guess in an hour or so."

"OK, we'll see you then. Love you Allison, we're here for you, OK?"

"Love you too Stiles, bye." Allison cut the call before she started crying.

"So we've got about an hour and then we can head over to Allison's." Stiles told Derek.

"That will give us time to finish these", Derek tipped his mug in Stiles' direction, "...and get freshened up." Silently they drank their coffees. Derek reached over the table for Stiles' hand. "You're too quiet, you worry me when you're this quiet."

"Shit, Derek, I don't know what to think, never mind say, my best friend is missing and we know who's got him. We know, don't we Derek? What will we say to Allison, to my Dad? How can we explain it? I can't even wrap my head around telling my Dad what you are, what Scott is or even what might have happened to him."

Derek moved his chair closer to Stiles and pulled him into a hug. "We don't say anything now, not until we know some more. For the moment we're just supportive friends." Stiles melted into the embrace for a moment.

"OK, we're here because we're here, I get it." Stiles pulled away reluctantly and stood up. "I think I'll take our things upstairs, I kinda want to see my old room."

Derek followed Stiles up the stairs, letting him lead even though he knew exactly where the room was. When Stiles opened the door, he was surprised. He remembered his room as being all sorts of clutter; clothes and books scattered everywhere but the room was tidy and empty of nearly everything that defined its owner. Of course, he'd taken most of it with him when he'd left. He put the bags down by the wardrobe and went to sit on the bed. Closing his eyes, he imagined he was a decade younger.

Derek watched him from the doorway, letting him find his piece of mind, not wanting to force it. After a couple of minutes Stiles opened his eyes again and held out his hand for Derek to join him.

"We'll sleep here", he told Derek, "But until we've found Scott and spoken to my Dad, I can't do...you know..." he trailed off embarrassed.

Derek threw an arm around his shoulders and turned Stiles in to face him.

"I understand but I'll tell you this, when we've found Scott, when he's safe again, I'm going to make love to you in this bed like I should have done years ago."

Stiles kissed Derek, "that'll be great".

Half an hour later Stiles was directing Derek to Scott and Allison's house. As they came round the bend, Stiles saw that the porch light was on. He pointed out the house to Derek.

"I think she's home."

Derek pulled into their driveway and parked up behind Scott's landscaping truck. As they got out of the car, the front door opened, bathing light onto the drive. Two figures emerged, silhouetted by the glare, one of them ran towards Stiles and threw herself into his arms.

Stiles wrapped his arms around the distraught Allison.

"Oh my God! " she said, "You can't imagine how good it is to see you. You look great, your hair's longer and you put on some weight. I like it."

Stiles rubbed her back gently. "I'm sorry it took this for me...us...to come home."

Allison disengaged herself at the reminder that Stiles wasn't alone. She turned to face the man standing behind Stiles, never forgotten and still familiar in his posture. She walked over to him and gave him a hug as well.

"Derek, it's good to see you too. I should kill you for being gone so long but I can't think straight at the moment." She took each of them by the hand and led them towards the door. As they neared it, Stiles finally made out the other person standing just inside the house.

"Lydia", he said hesitantly, "Is that you?"

"Hey Stiles, yeah, I got in this morning." She took a step back into the light. Stiles could see how drawn her face was too, it made her look much older than her years.

Allison took them inside and Lydia shut the door behind them.

"Derek", Lydia nodded at him as he passed her, it was clear she was going to be less forgiving of him than Allison had been. They moved into the living room and Allison gestured vaguely at the chairs there. She sat down on one end of the sofa and Lydia tucked in next to her. Derek and Stiles took armchairs opposite.

"What happened today?" asked Stiles. "I've not spoken to my Dad yet."

Allison looked up at him, partly dried tears tracked down her cheeks. "They searched nearly all of the woods. Everyone was so good, there were people volunteering I don't even know." She shook her head in amazement. "They didn't find anything, it's like he was here one minute but not the next. I don't understand it, there's no reason for him to go and every reason for him to stay"

Tears started to flow more quickly and Allison caught back a sob. Lydia put her arms around her. As the son of a Sherriff, Stiles could well imagine the sorts of questions that Allison had been asked about the relationship between her and Scott. Questions that needed to be asked but which were incredibly hurtful all the same. Lydia was giving him the stink eye over Allison's shoulder.

"What?" he mouthed confused.

"She's pregnant doofus! Now do you see why Scott wouldn't have just walked out?"

"Oh!" said Stiles, momentarily taken aback. He knew how much the pair of them had wanted kids, how long they'd been trying. Scott had turned into a part-time bore on the subject of becoming a Dad over the past couple of years, telling Stiles all the time how he was fixing the house up, getting a nursery ready and how he was always trying to tell Allison to relax and not get stressed. Stiles could see exactly why Allison was so sure that Scott had been taken.

"Allison, I'm so happy for you, we'll get Scott back for you." He turned to Derek, "Won't we?" he said, almost pleading his boyfriend to back him up.

Derek leaned forward. "Can I ask you some questions Allison?"

Allison wiped her hand down her face trying to brush away the shed tears. "Yes, of course, anything you think will help."

"Tell me about his exercise routine, where does he go, is it always at the same time, what does he take with him?"

"He always runs in the woods, I don't know exactly what route he takes but I know he always goes past your old house Derek; he likes to keep an eye on it. He goes out at seven and he's usually back by a quarter past eight and he doesn't take anything with him, well, a cellphone and a bottle of water but that's it."

"And obviously you've rung the phone", asked Derek.

"It goes straight to voicemail; I've left so many messages."

Derek looked thoughtful, "You say there are dog teams going out tomorrow?"

"Yes", answered Allison, "They had to bring them over from upstate, they couldn't get here early enough today to do anything useful."

"I'm thinking that maybe I should go out tonight, see if I can catch his scent. If the dogs track him and he always takes the same path, they won't know where his scent stops but I'll know."

"Derek, you can't go out tonight!" protested Stiles. "You've been driving all day and you must be exhausted, I know I am."

"Well when can I go then? I don't want to get caught up with the trackers and the longer we leave it, the harder it will be." Derek seemed fairly firm in his intentions but Stiles knew how long the day had been."

Stiles turned to Allison, "What time are they heading out tomorrow?"

"About nine, I think", she replied.

"Well how about first thing, we can come with you and...do ...something, I dunno..." Stiles tailed off.

Derek looked into Stiles eyes, he saw only concern there and he reasoned that it was a fair compromise, he was tired and he'd be undoubtedly fresher after a few hours' sleep.

"OK, Stiles, we'll do it tomorrow but early, as early as we can.

"How will you know Derek? If the dogs won't know, how will you know?" challenged Lydia, leaning forward towards him.

"Because he's pack and an alpha can always sense its pack mates."

Derek's tone turned cold and the girls were somehow reminded of the Derek they'd known the last time things were strange in Beacon Hills. Lydia slumped back into the sofa, she tucked a leg under herself and eyed the two men inquisitively.

"So, you two, what gives?" Her direct stare was making Stiles a little uncomfortable.

"Um, we're together, you know, no big deal", babbled Stiles.

"Last I heard you were dating the hell out of the city girls. How come the turnaround, you weren't gay at school, you never even kissed Danny?" Lydia was obviously not going to let it go, it was maximum embarrassment time for Stiles. Not for Derek however, he ran his hand down Stiles arm which was laid on the armrest.

"I ran into Stiles by chance about a month ago. It seemed a good time to pick up where we left off when I had to leave here." That silenced Lydia, she gaped at Stiles.

"You mean you were having a thing ten years ago and you never said?"

"Kind of", muttered Stiles.

"What he means is, we both wanted to but it wasn't the right time", stated Derek. He took hold of Stiles hand. "It is now though, isn't it?"

Stiles smiled back at him, his confidence and assurance gave Stiles confidence too. "Yeah, it's the right time now."

"Oh my God!" shrieked Lydia, "you two are too cute together, why didn't we see this before? I can't wait to tell Jackson, I think I owe him some money."

"Huh?" queried Stiles.

"Oh, it's nothing, he just always said that there had to be a reason why you were always asking if you were attractive to boys. I told him you had a huge crush on me so you couldn't be gay. He wins!" she shrugged.

Allison smiled at them. "I'm really happy you found each other again. Scott will be over the moon when he finds out." There was an awkward silence, Derek broke it.

"Stiles and I will set off at six a.m. tomorrow; I should be able to cover most of the ground before the dogs start tracking."

"I'm coming with you" insisted Lydia. "I'm not missing this for anything."

"But don't you want to stay with Allison, you can't leave her alone?" exclaimed Stiles.

"I'm not", she said smugly, "her parents are upstairs. You don't mind do you Allison?"

Allison shook her head. "No, if you think you can help Derek and Stiles then by all means go with them. I'll be fine, Mum and Dad are very concerned, they'll be keeping an eye on me."

"OK then, we'll pick you up at six Lydia, make sure you're dressed for hiking, you can't get around the woods in four inch heels", Derek instructed.

"As if..."scoffed Lydia. "Tomorrow then..."


End file.
